The Fearless Rebel
She flipped her body and the figurative bird at the Olympics
Happy Wednesday, friends. Woof. I feel like the personification of that 30 Rock quote where Liz says “What a week, huh?” and Jack says “Lemon, it’s Wednesday.” This week I’m covering a trailblazer who did things to the beat of her own drum. She says don’t call her a rebel, but if the ice skates fits…
Surya Bonaly
Name an Olympic figure skater who has landed a backflip on ONE blade during competition. Hint: there’s only one answer…. and it’s Surya Bonaly.
Bonaly was a figure skating legend. During her career, she was a NINE-time French National Champion, a five-time European Champion, and a three-time World Silver Medalist. The gal can skate.
Bonaly was born in France. Growing up, her mom participated in a lot of sports and she always brought Bonaly along. Turns out, Bonaly was very gifted athletically. Specifically, she was an excellent gymnast and figure skater. She started skating at the ripe age of two. Pretty sure I was just getting the hang of getting food into my mouth at that point but I digress. While she excelled at both sports, she ultimately chose to pursue skating. One day, she unknowingly impressed a coach when she tried to do a double Axel with a broken ankle. The coach, Didier Gailhaguet (have you ever heard a more French name in your life?) was so taken by her skill and fearlessness that he soon asked her to move to Paris to train with him year-round.
At twelve, she learned how to do a backflip on the ice. Yeah, you read that right, she was TWELVE flipping in the air and landing on an ice skating blade on ice. A quick figure skating rules lesson, backflips are a big no-no in official competitions. The International Skating Union officially banned them in 1976 after a skater performed one at the Olympics. It’s kind of unclear why they are banned but most say it’s because the ISU didn’t believe a backflip could be landed on one skate. I’m also envisioning the PR disaster of someone cracking their head open on the ice. Because of this, Bonaly was discouraged from performing them in competitions as it would bring her score down.
Although she started competing at a young-ish age, Bonaly crushed competitions. As I said above, she was a champion. She was also inspired by another amazing athlete, track star Florence Griffith-Joyner, who was known for her colorful outfits. Bonaly decided she would also start wearing more original and bright costuming, which was a pivot from the usual figure skating attire.
Sadly, the one thing Surya Bonaly could never overcome was the racism of the sport. Figure skating is a very white sport that is also subjective. She was constantly graded lower than she should have been for her skill level and talent. She tried to perform less risky moves and even cut her hair to fit in with the judge’s model of what a figure skater “should” look like, but it didn’t work. That was very hard on Bonaly as she felt if she had been white, she could have been an Olympic Gold Medalist. This played out at the 1994 World Championship when Bonaly received silver even though she and the gold medalist gave equal performances. Bonaly was so distraught she wouldn’t stand on the podium and she took her medal off. This sets up the infamous 1998 Olympics backflip.
I know you’re thinking… wait a minute… didn’t you just say like two paragraphs ago backflips in figure skating are illegal? Yep. The 1998 Olympics was Bonaly’s last hurrah. She’d competed in two other Olympics without medal success and 1998 was not looking like her year. She had ruptured her Achilles tendon and fell during her short program. She was not going to place high enough to be in medal contention. Might as well backflip. Why? Because if you can’t win, you can at least be remembered. Also, great athletes push the boundary of the sport and Bonaly was an incredible athlete.
She nails the backflip, which she lands on ONE foot, and people go absolutely fucking nuts. The judges are horrified but the crowd loses their minds. Everyone freaks out and it’s all anyone can talk about. She later said “I wanted to do something to please the crowd, not the judges. The judges are not pleased no matter what I do…”
After the Olympics, Bonaly went pro and finally had the freedom to skate her way. She now lives in the United States and coaches figure skating in Minnesota.
That’s all for this week! Stay safe so we can have a hot girl summer. Catch ya next Wednesday!
Citations
Clip of Surya Bonaly’s Backflip from Netflix Documentary Losers
An Interview With the Figure Skater Who Did the Only Legal Backflip in Olympic Competition
Olympic Figure Skater Surya Bonaly Followed This Simple Rule to Become World Champion
Twenty Years Later, Figure Skating’s Most Famous Backflip Remains Amazing (and Illegal)
‘Please, Try to be Fair’: Surya Bonaly Confronts 1994 World Championships Loss
What Greatness Looks Like: Celebrating Surya Bonaly
Surya Bonaly on Backflips, Figure Skating Fashion, and Discrimination
Former Olympian Surya Bonaly says don’t call her a rebel, call her fearless
Queen of back flips on ice laces up her skates in MN, as coach