With less then a year before they light the Olympic flame in Lillehammer, Norway, Utahns are likely to get a sneak preview of some of the world's 1994 Winter Olympic hopefuls.
The 1993 Tour of World Figure Skating Champions comes to the Delta Center on Monday, June 7, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 and $35.Headlining the tour is Oksana Baiul, the 15-year-old skating sensation from Ukraine who came out of nowhere to win the gold medal in March at the World Championships. Observers agree she is sure to be a contender for Lillehammer gold.
Baiul is the youngest world champion since Sonja Henie captured the gold in 1927. Baiul began skating at 4 years old, just after her father died. Her mother passed away from cancer in 1990 and she lived as an orphan at her skating club. In 1992, she moved to Odessa to live and train.
"In the 13 years I've been producing this tour, I have never witnessed such a phenomenal emergence of a figure-skating star like Oksana Baiul. Her skill on the ice and the way she relates to an audience - at 15 years old - are simply magnificent," said producer Tom Collins.
While Baiul is sure to inspire in her Delta Center performance, the program's list of more than 25 skaters reads like a who's who in the contemporary skating world. Collectively the tour's performers have won more than 45 medals.
Those on the tour's program who are vying for spots on their countries' Olympic teams include Viktor Petrenko of Ukraine, France's Surya Bonaly, who received a silver medal during the world championships in March, aswell as China's Lu Chen, who received the bronze in the world championships.
Current U.S. champion Nancy Kerrigan and U.S. silver medalist Mark Mitchell, who are likely to represent the United States in Lillehammer, are slated to perform.
"The majority of the people Salt Lake will be seeing are definitely working towards being a representative of their countries in the Olympics," Collins said.
Also on the list of performers and possible Lillehammer contenders is U.S. mens skater Brian Boitano and ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean of Great Britain. Boitano won a gold medal in the 1988 World Championship and Calgary Olympics. Torvill and Dean won a gold for ice dancing in the 1984 Olympics.
Boitano has received amateur eligibility while Torvill and Dean are waiting for theirs to be restored for the Lillehammer Games. Under a new rule of the International Skating Union professionals are allowed a one-time eligibility application.
Ice-skating pair Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner are also a special feature of the program. They've been together for a quarter of a century, performing for the first time in Salt Lake City more than a decade ago. This is their first tour after a five-year performing hiatus.
They became "America's Sweethearts" when they won the world championship in 1979. However, their rise to stardom came crashing down when they were favorites to win the gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics. Gardner suffered a pulled groin muscle and the pair had to withdraw from competition.
The disappointment of that night, combined with a hectic performance schedule and personal life, sent Babilonia on a downward spiral of drinking, drugs, destructive love affairs and a suicide attempt. Her story was chronicled in the movie "On Thin Ice."
However, Babilonia and Gardner turned professional, rebuilding their careers and lives to become one of the favorite skating pairs of a generation. They were elected into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame last year.
"Everybody enjoys seeing them on the ice. They been part of American figure skating for so long and really been something everyone can relate to," Collins said.
Gardner has focused his career on choreography, developing routines for various productions and touring companies. Babilonia is married to musician Cary Butler and continues art studies as well as jewelry design.
The show includes other popular men on ice Peter Barna of Czechoslovakia, Todd Eldredge of the United States; and Canada's Gary Beacom.
Women champions scheduled to perform are Americans Jill Trenary and Tonya Harding.
The list of pair skaters includes Olympic Champions Natalia Mishketenok and Arthur Dmitriev of Russia. Also on the pair list is Calla Urbanski and Rocky Marval, Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler of Canada and Radka Kovarikova and Rene Novotny of Czecho-slo-vakia.
Top ice dancers include Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko of Russia. Also featured are Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay of France, and Maia Usova and Alexander Zhulin of Russia.
The Salt Lake appearance is part of a 43-city tour which opened on April 22 in Baltimore and runs through June 23, ending in Anaheim, Calif.