Skaldina was born on 24 May 1972 in
Zaporizhia,
Ukrainian SSR, to an engineer and a kindergarten inspector. Skaldina started training in gymnastics at the age of 5 with Lyudmila Kovalik. When she moved to
Kyiv, she began training at the
Deryugins School with Albina and
Irina Deriugina. Skaldina's breakthrough came at the 1988 European Cup, where she placed fifth in the all-around and won the ball title. She shared in the Soviet silver-medal finish behind Bulgaria at the 1989 World Championships, and also claimed the all-around bronze and three golds (rope, hoop, ribbon). In 1990, she placed first at the Intervision Cup,
Goodwill Games, USSR National Championships and World Cup, third at the European Championships, and became the
1991 World All-around champion. Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, Skaldina and her teammate
Olexandra Tymoshenko, both coached by the
Deryuginas, competed for Ukraine at the 1992 European Championships in Stuttgart. Skaldina placed fifth in the all-around and won three apparatus gold medals. At the
1992 Summer Olympics, the ex-USSR countries qualified as one
Unified Team based on their results as the Soviet team the previous year. Although Russia's
Oxana Kostina had a better competitive season, Skaldina was named to the Olympic team along with compatriot Timoshenko. (As individual athletes not competing in team sports in Barcelona, they both competed under the Ukrainian flag.) In Barcelona, Timoshenko won the gold medal while Skaldina settled for bronze behind Spain's
Carolina Pascual. In tears, she refused to acknowledge Pascual and shake her hand during the medal ceremony, resulting in boos from the Spanish audience. She retired after the competition. ==Personal life==