The Olympic gold medalist has put her $1.2 million mansion up for sale after her aspirations for success in Louisiana didn’t pan out, prompting her return to Las Vegas amid her divorce.
Oksana Baiul, who represented Ukraine in figure skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics, expressed her deep disappointment last week, saying she has a “broken heart.”
“Thank you, Shreveport!!! The house is for sale and I’m back to Las Vegas… I love you,” she mentioned in a Facebook post.
At 47, the Ukrainian native candidly revealed that her dream of starting a skate school in Louisiana “didn’t come to a reality.”
“I can’t make a living in Shreveport. Unfortunately, I can’t,” she explained on Facebook. “I love all the people here. I came for a reason and it didn’t happen. I created a few things here, but they didn’t happen. You have to go where the ice is.”
After winning gold in figure skating in 1994, Baiul moved to Simsbury, Connecticut, to train. She then relocated multiple times across the U.S. before settling in Pennsylvania, where she met Carlo Farina.
The couple bought their Louisiana home for $600,000 in 2022.
On September 20, Baiul announced she had listed the five-bedroom, five-bathroom house at $1,195,000, also confirming her return to Las Vegas.
The historic mansion, built in 1925, is set on 1.3 acres and boasts unique features like seven fireplaces, a gated driveway, and an outdoor fountain.
Baiul described her property as “the most beautiful mansion in all of Shreveport” and shared images of her home on social media.
“I made all the money in the world and lost all the money in the world,” she reflected. “I’m married, and now I’m divorced. But if you fall on the ice, can you imagine how many times I’d have to fall and wake up?”
In August, marking two years of sobriety, Baiul shared on Facebook that she and Farina were separating after ten years of marriage.
The couple has a 10-year-old daughter who has already returned to Las Vegas. “I’m here from Las Vegas,” Baiul told a local news outlet. “My daughter was born in Las Vegas. She’s already there. When I was in Vegas, I just came back. We skated together.”
Baiul faced significant legal challenges in the past, including a $45 million payment ordered in 2014 after a lawsuit involving NBC and a TV promoter, as well as a dismissed $400 million lawsuit against her former agent.
She achieved international fame with her gold medal win in women’s figure skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics, beating competitors Nancy Kerrigan and Chen Lu.
Baiul will now work with the Vegas Golden Knights organization, engaging with their skating programs to enhance the community in Nevada.
“I enjoy taking risks from time to time,” she noted. “I personally learn nothing from success. I learn everything from tough situations. I am blessed and grateful for everything. I miss a lot of Shreveport. Thank you.”
