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American Morning

Gold Medalist Oksana Bayul Discusses Olympic Skating

Aired February 21, 2002 - 08:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Up front this morning, the crown jewel of the Winter Olympics, the Ladies Figure Skating final is on tap for tonight. And the Americans are holding three of the top four positions. Michelle Kwan, of course, the leader of the pack heading into tonight's all important long program, which will make and break the competition here.

CNN's Carol Lin is standing by in Salt Lake City with a preview and a look back at an extraordinary day yesterday for the Americans -- good morning, Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. Paula, the Americans up to 26 medals, and certainly Michelle Kwan is hoping to be the gold announced tonight.

Michelle Kwan going into tonight's long program in first place. Irina Slutskaya, the Russian, a very close second, and Slutskaya is saying that this is a war on ice, and all of that is raising the anticipation and expectation for Michelle Kwan tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LIN (voice-over): She has won four world titles, six national championships. Michelle Kwan is hunting for Olympic gold, while capturing America's imagination. At the Winter Olympics, just ask: Who is your favorite figure skater?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michelle Kwan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michelle Kwan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Michelle Kwan.

LIN: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She looks good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, she's USA. She is Michelle Kwan. Everybody knows her.

LIN: Look around, and she seems to be everywhere. Kwan even joked this week she can't get away from her own image. She is the closest thing to ice skating's rock star. The crowd went nuts, when she skated a near perfect presentation of her short program Tuesday night. Timothy Goebel, who won the bronze in Men's Figure Skating, says Kwan has all of the right stuff.

TIMOTHY GOEBEL, OLYMPIC MEDALIST: She has a beautiful jumping technique. She has great artistic skills. She spins very well, and her programs just flow.

LIN: But is it enough to win her a gold medal Thursday night?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has had lots of chances. It's time to make one happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think she has been competing this for so many years, and we have been able to follow her career for so many years as well, I mean, her highs, her lows. And now, here we are at Salt Lake City, and I think everyone is really rooting for her to win Olympic gold.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: It's going to be tough to beat Kwan on artistry, so the competition is looking to beat her on technical points. Expect a triple salchow, triple loop, half loop, triple salchow combination from the Russians, and that's just the beginning of the maneuvers you're going to see tonight -- Paula.

ZAHN: Well, I know you've got a late shift to pull tonight, and the rest of us will be watching...

LIN: You bet.

ZAHN: ... alongside by television. Have fun tonight. Thanks, Carol.

LIN: Thanks, Paula.

ZAHN: Joining us now to talk more about tonight's figure skating final is someone who has been there herself. Oksana Bayul won Olympic gold at the '94 Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway. She joins us from Parks City, Utah this morning -- welcome back. Thank you for joining us this morning.

OKSANA BAYUL, FIGURE SKATER '94 GOLD MEDALIST: Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hi, everybody.

ZAHN: So, Oksana, before we talk about what these women need to do tonight, do you want to hazard any Olympic predictions this morning?

BAYUL: I think anybody could do it, because they all have a pretty good chance, and they all are very tough in the way how they skated the short program. I mean, it's unbelievable. There are four front girls. They did a clean performance, and I mean, they are all so different and so versatile. I don't know. We'll have to wait until tonight. ZAHN: So Michelle Kwan, like the other skaters, has four minutes to prove herself on the ice tonight. And she has done a lot of analysis of her last Olympic performance, saying that she didn't really go for it. How much pressure is she under tonight?

BAYUL: I watched her in 1998, and she did a flawless performance. And I think she has a great chance to do it again, and she has to hold onto it. And artistically, nobody could touch her. I mean, she is unbelievable. After the short program, I was cheering for her and for everybody else, and she was so comfortable. She looked great, and I mean, for me as a professional skater, not as a judge. I mean, she had a full package, her makeup, her dress, her program, the final spiral, the way how she did it was so incredible. And you know, definitely she had a stand-up ovation after all. I would give a gold medal to everybody, if I would be a judge.

ZAHN: That might get you into some trouble.

BAYUL: I know.

ZAHN: Let's talk a little bit about Sasha Cohen. I know people watching her train yesterday thought she looked very strong. What is she up against tonight?

BAYUL: OK. She will step on the ice, the way how she is skating. A lot of people think she is kind like me, and a lot of people think she has a chance to do what I did in 1994, because I kind of came out of nowhere, and I gave a very good, strong performance, and I got a gold. But we still have to wait and see. And she is pretty confident, and that the girl has a chance and capability to do well tonight.

ZAHN: And you were talking about Sarah Hughes, or at least I think Carol Lin was in the piece that ran up this, having maybe some problems practicing earlier this week. How does she look to you on ice now?

BAYUL: She looks great. She is my neighbor. She is from New Jersey. I live in New Jersey now. She is wonderful. She is very young, and her jumps are incredible. She does a triple, triple combination, and the way how she is skating, I really like her lines. And she is very also comfortable on the ice. They both skated -- I mean, everybody skated so well last night. So we have to wait.

ZAHN: And give us a little preview of Irina Slutzkaya's performance.

BAYUL: Well, Irina is very strong technically, and I don't know. It's going to be like what we watched two days ago in the short performance. She beat Michelle Kwan by the technical impression, but by the artistic impression, Michelle got, you know, the gold. And we have to, again, wait and see.

ZAHN: Is there a part of you that wants to be out there on the ice tonight? BAYUL: Yes, yes, yes. I was -- when they were on the ice performing, I was -- yes, I want to perform. I like to perform, but I don't like to be judged. I like to be judged by the audience but not by the judges. And you know, that's why I turned pro, when I was 16 years old.

ZAHN: Final thought before we let you leave. On all of the controversy surrounding judging at this year's Olympics, is it going forever stain the credibility of these games?

BAYUL: No, no. They changed the way how they are going to judge. And they are going to put 14 judges on the ice, and 7 of them is going to go into the computer system. And what is going to happen, it's worthwhile trying the new system the way how they are going to judge the skaters. I think it's worthwhile trying this whole thing.

And definitely, what happened to professional skating and amateur skating is just an embarrassment for me, because when the whole scandal started coming out, I was at home. I was watching it on television, and I just wanted to crawl under my bed, and you know, it was an embarrassment, but they solved the situation.

And I was here when they were -- pair skaters, they were on the podium, and both of them got the gold medal, and it was like a fairy tale story came into the end. And everybody was in the audience, standing up and clapping for them, and they were so great, and they did both great performances. But unfortunately, it's a very, very subjective sport.

ZAHN: Of course it is. And, Oksana Bayul, we appreciate your getting up so early...

BAYUL: Thank you, Paula. Thank you.

ZAHN: ... in the morning to join us. And I think you didn't lose any friends today. You are going to give them all gold, so they've got to be very happy with you this morning.

BAYUL: Yes.

ZAHN: And we'll be watching from here. Take care -- have fun tonight, Oksana.

BAYUL: Bye, Paula -- thank you.

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