Just some extra context for this and the history of the backflip cos I'm seeing some misunderstandings in the notes. Surya Bonaly IS being erased but also her situation is often misrepresented and I think we owe it to her and her legacy to get it right:
The first two footed backflip was done in competition by American skater Terry Kubicka in 1976. After he did this the backflip was made illegal because it was both not landed on one foot / incompatible with figure skating AND seen as too dangerous to allow in wider competition.
Backflips then became something just for ice shows, outside competition, and was something French skater Surya Bonaly frequently did. She's also credited as the youngest figure skater to do a backflip and the first woman.
Surya Bonaly then did the first single footed backflip in competition in 1998. When Surya Bonaly did the backflip she knew it was an illegal element and knew she would (almost definitely) get a deduction for it despite landing it on one leg. At the time she was injured, knew she wouldn't get on the podium, and she knew she couldn't complete her required elements, so she did it to show the judges/ISU exactly what she was capable of. She still received the mandatory deduction because it was an illegal element. However this is often conflated with the CHRONIC RACIST UNDERSCORING she was subjected to more widely across her career.
In the intervening years the backflip became pretty common outside of competition with at least one person doing it at most galas.
A few years back another French skater, Adam Siao Him Fa, added the two footed backflip to his skate in competition, fully knowing he'd get the two point deduction every time for the illegal element. At the 2024 world championships Adam was in 19th after the short program, had an incredible skate in the free and, even with the 2 point deduction for the backflip, got the bronze medal.
Shortly after this (largely seemingly because of Adam going viral and the ISU wanting to capitalise on that because the sport is dying) the backflip was legalised.
Now the backflip is a legal element, however, it's listed as a choreographic element so there's no actual points in it which is why many people still don't do it. It is also STILL AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS ELEMENT (and honestly it was incredibly irresponsible of the ISU to legalise it).
Since legalisation American skater Ilia Malinin has been using the backflip in competition and has now landed it on one leg. This is the first LEGAL one footed backflip in competition, which is of course a historic moment in and of itself.
HOWEVER, as the original post says, the vast majority of press coverage has either completely erased Surya Bonaly (and Adam Siao Him Fa) because they want to deify their white boy poster child, or has totally misrepresented the reason Surya did the backflip and what it meant for her and the sport which is quite frankly an insult to her.
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