While the American male skater is getting attention for performing the 1st legal backflip landing on one skate, let's acknowledge the 1st person to have done this: a Black French girl, Surya Bonaly.
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there's more to it
she had a lot of resentment towards the judges. she turned her back to the judges after finishing and bowed to the fans
she complained of ageism (like with gymnastics it's appalling). she got unusually low scores. "After 10 years, I am used to it"
she was injured and considered dropping out. after her error she spontaneously decided to launch into the backflip and land on one foot
she said she did it because it was "easier" (?!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surya_Bonaly#1997%E2%80%931998_season:_Third_Olympics
@benroyce @tshirtman @CStamp
I watched all of it back then, because I was figure skating myself at the time.
The judges did her dirty so many times, she finally had it. -
#SuryaBonaly's story at the 1998 #Nagano #WinterOlympics is a marvel
She committed an error and was out of medal contention. So she went "fuck it, if the judges don't appreciate me for my athletic gifts, I am going to win on my own terms" and was the first Olympic woman to do a #backflip in #figureskating *on one blade*
And sure enough, we talk about that today more than anything else from then
"Fuck the haters, I'll win on my terms, I'm going to live my life"
Be like Surya
@benroyce
Plus... She's French
๐ฅณ
(I didn't know about this story, it's amazing !)
@CStamp#SuryaBonaly #Nagano #WinterOlympics #backflip #figureskating
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@benroyce
Plus... She's French
๐ฅณ
(I didn't know about this story, it's amazing !)
@CStamp#SuryaBonaly #Nagano #WinterOlympics #backflip #figureskating
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@benroyce @tshirtman @CStamp
I watched all of it back then, because I was figure skating myself at the time.
The judges did her dirty so many times, she finally had it.@Kadsenchaos @tshirtman @CStamp
there's racism in there too
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@Kadsenchaos @tshirtman @CStamp
there's racism in there too
@benroyce @Kadsenchaos @tshirtman Sadly, yep.
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While the American male skater is getting attention for performing the 1st legal backflip landing on one skate, let's acknowledge the 1st person to have done this: a Black French girl, Surya Bonaly. She, however, lost points for doing it.
"Regarding the criticism she received during her career, Bonaly said she was โborn too early,โ ...
โI broke ice for other skaters,โ...โNow everything is different. People welcome anyone as long as they are good & that is what life is about.โ
@CStamp made me search the Web and learn several things thank you.
I found this short informative too
https://youtube.com/shorts/Q0NvfIvGR10?si=SWSFltBLplZEl1Yq -
@CStamp made me search the Web and learn several things thank you.
I found this short informative too
https://youtube.com/shorts/Q0NvfIvGR10?si=SWSFltBLplZEl1Yq@jaystephens If you look through this thread, youโll learn a lot more about why she chose to do the backflip while knowing she would get deductions. With regards to the flip, the first guy did a two foot landing. When they banned it because they thought it dangerous, they added that unless it could be done with a single foot landing, it didnโt qualify as a jump anyway. Surya Bonaly was the first to do the backflip and land it on one foot.

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@jaystephens If you look through this thread, youโll learn a lot more about why she chose to do the backflip while knowing she would get deductions. With regards to the flip, the first guy did a two foot landing. When they banned it because they thought it dangerous, they added that unless it could be done with a single foot landing, it didnโt qualify as a jump anyway. Surya Bonaly was the first to do the backflip and land it on one foot.

@CStamp yeah I haven't dug into what exactly she was protesting and why, that's next

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#SuryaBonaly's story at the 1998 #Nagano #WinterOlympics is a marvel
She committed an error and was out of medal contention. So she went "fuck it, if the judges don't appreciate me for my athletic gifts, I am going to win on my own terms" and was the first Olympic woman to do a #backflip in #figureskating *on one blade*
And sure enough, we talk about that today more than anything else from then
"Fuck the haters, I'll win on my terms, I'm going to live my life"
Be like Surya
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#SuryaBonaly's story at the 1998 #Nagano #WinterOlympics is a marvel
She committed an error and was out of medal contention. So she went "fuck it, if the judges don't appreciate me for my athletic gifts, I am going to win on my own terms" and was the first Olympic woman to do a #backflip in #figureskating *on one blade*
And sure enough, we talk about that today more than anything else from then
"Fuck the haters, I'll win on my terms, I'm going to live my life"
Be like Surya
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