they outlawed this move just because she was the only woman who could do it.Ā
Surya Bonaly was infamous for (among other things) doing aone bladeĀ backflip in the 1998 Olympics, and is the ONLY figure skater whoās ever pulled that off. Not just the only woman, the only figure skater PERIOD. Thereās like all ofthreeĀ Olympic-class male skaters who did backflips in their routines, and NONE of them could do it one blade.
But wait, thereās more.
Backflips were banned from the 1976 Olympics onward on the official justification that skating jumps are supposed to be landed on one blade, whereas backflips are landed on both blades. The unofficial justification was it was too dangerous, both to the athlete and to the rink ā if you didnāt land it perfectly, you could not only break your ankle, but also punch THROUGH the ice surface.
Surya Bonaly wasĀ openly contemptuousĀ of the figure skating judges, because they were a bunch of openly racist white men whoĀ alwaysĀ screwed her over by giving her lower scores than she deserved. That one-blade backflip was her ultimate FUCK YOU! to the Olympics judges, because she took an āillegalā backflip andĀ made it legalĀ by landing it on one blade. Pretty much DARING them to mark her down for beingĀ epic awesomeĀ and pulling a move that their precious coddled white girls didnāt have the guts to even think about.
They did, of course. White racism knows no bounds. But she utterly owned them with that move.
not only did she do a fucking backflip and land, she landed then went right into a triple loop. like holy fuck
And worth noting is the fact that, lest her colossal āfuck youā go misinterpreted, she ended her routine with her back to the judges, which is not only unheard of in the competitive skating world, but is considered extremely disrespectful to them. She just wanted to be absolutely sure they knew that she was trying to tell them she didnāt give a fuck what they thought.
being black AND a figure skater was really beyond tough. as a child, through skating i learned how the real world works, and just how white people view me.Ā
and thats the saddest part. my parents spent thousand upon thousands just so i can express myself on ice, and it ended up being my worst nightmare.Ā
