In Her Debut, Teen Wins Title

Oksana Baiul, 15, of Ukraine won the women’s title Saturday at the World Figure Skating Championships at Prague, the Czech Republic, her first international competition.

And with no medals and only three finishes in the top five, the United States suffered its worst showing at the World Championships in almost 30 years.

In her winning program, Baiul did five triple jumps. American Nancy Kerrigan, the U.S. champion and Olympic bronze medalist who seemed to be battling nervousness all week, finished fifth.

The United States team won no medals at the World Championships, the first time since the years 1962-1964, after the plane crash that killed the entire team en route to the 1961 world championships in Prague.

As a result, America will send its smallest figure skating squad to the Olympics since ice dancing was added as an event in 1976.

Surya Bonaly of France came in second among the women. China’s Chen Lu won the bronze medal for the second year in a row.