Surya Bonaly: Yeah. Latif Nasser: The figure skating official who was giving out the medals, he gives Yuka the gold, puts it around her neck, but then when he turns to Surya, he just sort of stands there, looks at her. You were really terrific. } Elle a atteint le sol, mais elle est tombe environ un quart de tour avant de terminer quatre rotations dans les airs; les juges ont jug que son effort tait sous-tourn et ne comptait donc pas comme un quadruple saut. Surya Bonaly: Never mind, that's life, I'm used to it. Especially impressive is Janet Champion doing a string of 10 back handsprings . Latif Nasser: And so by the age of ten, she decides she wants to spend her life figure skating. Latif Nasser: She pulled a muscle. Elvis Stojko: Like say a Tonya Harding-style skating. Tracie Hunte: She would do back flips, hands-. 1992ko, 1994ko eta 1998ko Neguko Olinpiar Jokoetan parte hartu zuen. So if you have a second, there is a survey at wnyc.org/participate. Lorsque vous avez matris un certain aspect, vous devez continuellement vous efforcer de lamliorer en essayant quelque chose de nouveau et de diffrent plutt que de vous en tenir aux mmes vieilles choses. Didier Gailhagu: White. Latif Nasser: Does the splits in the air. Tracie Hunte: Were they saying out loud? How many triple triple you want me? Produced by Matt Kielty with help from Tracie Hunte. Jad Abumrad: So they didn't change their mind about the back flip in the end. Also, she says you're supposed to land all your jumps on one foot. Tracie, we'll miss you. Here we go.". Jad Abumrad: stay listening? Surya Bonaly redefined a sport that wasn't built for her. Danse avec les Stars . Mais ce nest pas fait, et je nentrerai pas dans les codes. That's why it's called the Bonaly. That she had a bad attitude. Jad Abumrad: Special thanks to Vanessa Riley, Moira North, skaters Elisa Angeli, and Christian Erwin from The Ice Theater of New York, and to Ed Haber for recording it all, and a very heartfelt thanks to Marilyn Wiggins. It was hers for the taking. Oh, and she takes off the medal. Robert Krulwich: What do you do? TV Announcers: Another triple. And she didn't seem to care about artistry. It's a sound that we all love. She grew up in Nice. Mais cet exploit a maintenant t clips par le fait quelle a t teste positive pour une drogue interdite en dcembre, et elle est entoure de doutes quant aux tactiques utilises par certains entraneurs de patinage artistique dont les concurrents sont capables deffectuer des sauts aussi difficiles sur la glace. Fortunately I was good at it. Tracie Hunte: Well, that's the question, and it's kind of complicated. All Rights Reserved. Marie-Renie Le: Marie-Reine Le Gougne speaking. Rerouting, okay we have to go right now! If there's one thing Surya Bonaly is remembered for, it's her backflips. The skater broke the rules and made Olympics history with her backflip. There's such jumping ability. Tracie Hunte: She would see all these famous skaters. So, we made some stories. Loretta Swit begged the writers to stop using it. TV Announcers: There's a lot work to be done on the choreography yet, there's a lot of work to be done on the grace. Browse 344 skater surya bonaly stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Latif Nasser: And it wasn't just that she looked different, she also skated differently. Surya Bonaly: People, when they stand up and start making noise and tap their feet into the ground, I can feel the whole building. Jad Abumrad: But I don't necessarily hear whatever it is that she is hearing and think, "Yes!". TV Announcers: She really is amazing. Latif Nasser: And to make matters worse, Surya at that moment was already recovering from a ruptured achilles tendon. She just stood right next to the podium. It's shady as (beep). Matt Kielty: After the ceremony? Latif Nasser: Let's dive. Tracie Hunte: Were just a little bit more loaded. Yet, commentators claimed she couldn't skate, and judges never gave her the high marks she felt she deserved. Latif Nasser: Again, that's Sandra Bezic. of 6. There are rules, whereas there aren't these rules when it comes to beauty. xhr.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain;charset=UTF-8'); She would be scratchy. Robert Krulwich: I mean, the idea that she's some kind of black forest princess or something? Surya Bonaly: Those famous skater, like Katarina Witt-, TV Announcers: The ravishing Katarina Witt-. There's a line on a court, and it's either inside or it's outside. She was going to take it. And the doctors said, "Maybe we should withdraw." Il faut prciser que lancienne gymnaste tait bien consciente du fait que le backflip est interdit en patinage artistique depuis 1976 du fait quil ncessite un atterrissage sur les deux patins. TV Interviewers: Are the judges unfair to you? Plus ils effectuent de rvolutions, plus le patineur gagne de points. You can tell she's favoring one leg, but she manages to land a few jumps, then she falls. So knock on wood, I hope I'll be able to die in peace. Latif Nasser: But when we ask people, "Did she change the sport? Or maybe now will be nice if we'll do maybe four times a week. de patineurs. If anything, I felt more like, man, it really must suck to be the only black woman skating at that kind of level, and not really understand why things are happening. Latif Nasser: How are you doing? Latif Nasser: What about it felt unfair? Tracie Hunte: Those go to Yuka Sato. Tracie Hunte: I'm just not lucky. Sandra Bezic: I've bene involved in the skating world my whole life as a competitor, as an olympian, a commentator. Latif Nasser: Cause it's really dangerous. It's my last competition.". Elvis Stojko: Like oh my go, holy (bleep), she's actually doing this? TV Announcers: An unlikely place to find a world-class figure skater. Maris au premier regard Latif Nasser: Well I asked her. Latif Nasser: They called out Surya. The tenaciousness of Surya Bonaly makes her more of a champion than all of her titles combined. It was so close. Surya Bonaly: Pretty good, thanks. Is that what you're saying? I pulled a muscle. Latif Nasser: She'd step on the ice, and people would go crazy. Georges Ayache, crivain et avocat, a rsid Nice. Stone Cold 37m An unbelievable loss in the 1985 Canadian championship leads curling legend Pat Ryan to perfect a dominant strategy that changes the sport forever. Malgr cela, la patineuse, qui a concouru sous le drapeau franais, a un CV t ce qui lui permettrait de revendiquer plus dun titre : neuf fois championne de France, cinq fois championne dEurope, trois fois vice-championne du globe (senior) Pourtant, malgr le fait quelle ait disput trois Jeux Olympiques , Bonaly na jamais pu siffler du haut du monde, ni complter sa collection de mdailles olympiques (1992, 1994 et 1998). TV Announcers: Notice her hair-. TV Announcers: I really hope she doesn't go through with this. Johnette Howard: Senior writer for espn.com. Skater Eric Heiden Won 5 Gold Medals, Then Became a Doctor. Latif Nasser: Eventually after about four and a half minutes, she finishes her skate-, TV Announcers: Surya Bonaly, to Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Selon lUnion internationale de patinage, les backflips taient et continuent dtre interdits en patinage de comptition (ISU). Jad Abumrad: Story comes from our producer Latin Nasser and also, producer Tracie Hunte. Linsigne de Chevalier de lordre de la Lgion dhonneur, dcern lancien athlte franais deux jours plus tard, tait un cadeau inestimable du peuple franais. I'm still performing all over the world," she told The Root in 2014. Sandra Bezic: And on behalf of everyone at Radiolab-. Latif Nasser: She didn't come out. TV Announcers: Yuka's one of my favorite skaters, but she doesn't have the combination jump like Bonaly did, so she's going to need all her jumps. Closing Credits: Start of message. So she was just this sort of blip on the skating scene, where no one was like her before, and there hasn't really been anyone like her since. She took birth at her parents' home in Nice, France. Tonya Harding: I was like, "How did you do that?". Tracie Hunte: Well, she retired from figure skating after the 98 Olympics. "But it is what it is. Jad Abumrad: Were they professional skaters? The question is, "How will they see her artistic effort?". In the 1980s and '90s, competitive figure skating enthralled me. Every day, I tried to do the best that I could do. And even if you spill, if you fail at those moves, you still get points. He says something, but you can't hear what it is. Jad Abumrad: What do you do? Thanks. A Natural in the Gym and on the Ice. And this is where things kind of get confusing. And one day I find out that I had, you know, some skating boots who fit me and-. Latif Nasser: And she would attack everything. Elvis Stojko: I came down right on my face. And there's no end to what she might achieve. TV Announcers: Surya Bonaly is a striking and exotic figure on the ice-, Johnette Howard: She just arrested your eyes when she skated. Didier Gailhagu: We used the press very well. Elvis Stojko: Explosive. Tracie Hunte: According to her, they would say the kind of things like she was too muscular, or she wasn't elegant enough. Robert Krulwich: And I think it's very legitimate to feel like you can't out your finger on this feeling that never goes away and never absolves and is always there and always makes you feel weird. Latif Nasser: I guess it depends on how you define first. I will say, from what I can tell, for the first time, that there's more than one black skater competing at the same time, internationally at least. Jad Abumrad: So she never gets first? Radiolab is produced by Jab Abumrad. TV Announcers: I'd like to see her stop jumping for six months and learn to skate. It's like a computer, if I would have missed something, a jump, I say, "Okay, here, I can fit a triple here, obviously I can do a combo triple triple. Elvis Stojko: Surya would go from one end to the other-, Didier Gailhagu: Would speed across the ice-, Tracie Hunte: Flying across the rink-, Didier Gailhagu: With powerful stroking-. But that's probably not the sound you're [inaudible 00:17:50]-. Surya Bonaly: I know, I was like, "It's the only time," and I guess-. It was just one of the best skates of her life. When the French international figure skater stepped onto the ice in the 1990s, the skating field was overwhelmingly white. Tracie Hunte: Yes. If you have any concerns about the accuracy of our content, please reach out to our editors by e-mailing Surya Bonaly: Like Holiday on Ice. Jad Abumrad: So what ended up happening? But when I asked Surya if that's what was happening, she said-. Latif Nasser: The sound I have in my head is like a hockey stop. Elvis Stojko: With powerful spin. That guy just came in, he said hi to everybody in the room but he didn't say it to me. Tracie Hunte: All those words used to criticize her skating-. Tracie Hunte: Oksana Bayul got gold-, TV Announcers: Nancy Kerrigan is physically-, Tracie Hunte: Nancy Kerrigan got silver, Chen Lu got the bronze, and fourth place was Surya. Born in 1973 in France Adopted Rename Surya (means Sun in Sanskrit) Birth mother & father Adopted parents lived off the grid Surya was an active toddler Focused on skating and gymnastics at the age of 4 1984 she watched the Winter Olympics Broke her ankle Joined the French National Team in Figure Skating Back flip on ice Tumbling award 1986 Awards Bonaly even learned the jump without a harness, a tool that pulls skaters towards the ceiling using a rope . Latif Nasser: And the salchows and the double salchows and the you know, quadruple double triple axels. And that's something that she couldn't do because she was jumping on straight lines. Tracie Hunte: And she hits her first jump, crowd loves it. Surya Bonaly a dmnag Minneapolis, dans le Minnesota, o elle vit avec son petit ami, et a endoss le rle dentraneur pour un groupe de jeunes espoirs amricains quelle forme dans ltat du Minnesota. Latif Nasser: All right. Robert Krulwich: She came in second, that's not bad. Tonya Harding: She was just so exciting, and there was just no boundaries for her. au 42 balais lorsquelle tait interviewe par le magazine. Well, we had the World Championships in Japan. https://www.instagram.com/suryabonaly1/?hl=en. And in a 5-4 decision-. Tracie Hunte: She gets back up, keeps going through her routine. Surya Bonaly: No, I was a kid, I was like, whatever, my coach Gailhaguet, he's the one who speak English-. And-. Tracie Hunte: And she'd do jump after jump-. She won a 1986 World Trampoline Championships silver medal for France in team tumbling at age 12. Tracie Hunte: And she decides to take the note. EDINA, Minn. When Surya Bonaly started figure skating as a little girl, it was casual. Latif Nasser: And then what comes to her is that there is this move that she has in her repertoire that she can do, but it's illegal. Tracie Hunte: Yeah, in 1993 in the World Championships, she comes in second. Elvis Stojko: I didn't want to skate like what they wanted skating to look like. I still follow my passion!". Just doing it like it was nothing. Thodore de Banville, auteur de La Mer de Nice. Original music from Matt, and also from Dylan Keefe. Surya Bonaly 1973 - Figure skater. And she was part of a team whose job it was to decide which girls to send to the Junior World Championships. 10 minutes people thinking about "What should we do?" TV Announcers: Absolutely. TV Announcers: When you can see disparity from the judges, a 5.7-. TV Announcers: The first marks, of course, the technical merit, Bonaly's strength, although Sato skated and jumped so well, and every one of those marks except the Finnish judge go to Bonaly. This has never been repeated in Olympic competition since. Surya knew she belonged on the ice. She began working on a quad in practice in 1989 after winning the first of her nine consecutive national figure skating titles. It was a totally different approach. TV Announcers: That really was a corker. Was there just the one sort of-. Tracie Hunte: Exactly, yes. Tracie Hunte: And when we asked her why, this is what she said. Tracie Hunte: Immediately starts with this double axel. Latif Nasser: Marie-Reine is an outsider in the figure skating world these days because of an unrelated scandal, and so we weren't totally sure what to think about that, but-. Que faire quand tout le monde sait de quoi vous parlez ? I don't know why people keep saying that. Just hold, hold, at this point, just hold. Latif Nasser: I think she did. The retailer is being called out over its strict security measures. Si Surya Bonaly a poursuivi une seconde carrire aux tats-Unis, conforte par sa naturalisation amricaine en 2004 et ses fianailles avec le patineur Pete Biver en septembre 2016, elle reste une habitue de la France. "You always need someone to be the first to do something. Surya Bonaly: For me it took like 10 minutes. "I've been doing shows with champion Evgeni Plushenko for years. Latif Nasser: And you could either of see it as a kind of-. RELATED: To see more famous athletes of the past now, sign up for our daily newsletter. Surya Bonaly: I have my eyes glue on those skaters. She takes the ice-. En raison de mon haut niveau dathltisme, jai pens quil serait bnfique pour moi dessayer simplement damliorer mes [quad jumps].. And look, I've never been a huge fan of figure skating, but this story, I think, asks a really interesting question. Tracie Hunte: She'd come hurling into these jumps. Sandra Bezic: This gentle, almost soundless quality, like a whisper across the ice. When you do the back flip, do your skates go up towards the ceiling and then come back down underneath you again? Latif Nasser: But, here's what happened. But Surya Bonaly was not the skating talent they'd expected: eccentric, defiant, athletic - and black. Latif Nasser: But clearly there were some times where it got to her. At the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan, one athlete pulled a move that, so far as we know, no one else had ever done in all ofhuman history.