Black figure skaters french

French figure skater (born )

Surya Varuna Claudine Bonaly (born 15 December ) is a French retired competitive figure skater. She is a three-time World silver medalist (–), a five-time European champion (–), the World Junior Champion, and a nine-time French national champion (–).

Bonaly is the only Olympic figure skater to land a backflip on one blade; she performed it at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

Early life

Surya Varuna Claudine Bonaly was born in Nice, France, on 15 December ^[1][2] Her birth name was Claudine. She was named after Surya, the Hindu god of the sun and Varuna, Hindu god of Oceans. She was placed in an orphanage by her birth mother and was adopted at eight months by Suzanne Bonaly, a physical education teacher in NIce, and Georges Bonaly, a draftsman who worked for the French government. ^[3][4][5][6] Suzanne Bonaly said that they adopted a nonwhite baby because "they are the babies no one takes".^[5] Bonaly was educated at home by her mother.^[5]

Bonaly's coach, Didier Gailhaguet, told reporters early in Bonaly's figure skating career that she had been born in Réunion and abandoned as a baby on the beach, that she had been raised on a macrobiotic diet, and that the inch ponytail she had at the Olympics had never been cut. Gailhaguet made up these stories about her early life "as a way to contend with better-established" skaters.^[6] Bonaly later found that her biological mother was from Réunion and her biological father was from Ivory Coast.^[7]

Bonaly began gymnastics training from her mother at the age of two years old and won a silver medal for the trampoline in team tumbling at the Tumbling World Championships when she was 12 years old. She began figure skating at the age of 12, when she successfully accomplished her first triple jump.^[6][8][9] Suzanne Bonaly was her daughter's first skating coach.^[10] In , Johnette Howard of Sports Illustrated called Suzanne Bonaly "domineering" and stated that she had "near-total control" of her daughter's training and was intimately involved with her daughter's career.^[11] Gailhaguet discovered Bonaly and invited her to train with him in Paris; her mother accompanied her there and her father stayed in Nice. In , reporter Susan Du described Gailhaguet's false stories about Bonaly's birth, the press' reactions to Suzanne Bonaly, and Gailhaguet's unsubstantiated accusations that she abused her daughter.^[10]

Skating career

– to –

Bonaly came in seventh place at Blue Swords, a junior-level competition in Germany, in At the World Junior Championships in December , she came in 14th place.^[12]

At the Trophée Lalique, Bonaly came in seventh place.^[13] She came in third place at the World Junior Championships and won the gold medal for the first time at the French National Championships in December She came in seventh place at the Tropheé Lalique in January , in eighth place at the Europeans Championships, and in 10th place at Worlds.^[12][14]

In the fall of , Bonaly competed at the Nebelhorn Trophy, where she came in second place, and at Skate America, where she came in sixth place. She again won the gold medal at the French Nationals and came in second place at Junior Worlds. She came in seventh place at the Tropheé Lalique, in fourth place at Europeans, and in ninth place at Worlds.^[12]

– season: World Junior and European titles

In the summer of , Bonaly came in third place overall at the Goodwill Games, after coming in fourth place after the short program^[15] and third place during the free skating program, when she attempted to successfully accomplish a quadruple jump, although her landing was two-footed. Gailhaguet later stated that it was the closest she had come to landing a quad jump and that she was accomplishing them easily during practice.^[8] She was the first French female skater to successfully accomplish five triple jumps out of the seven jumps required in the free skate.^[6] Randy Harvey of the Los Angeles Times reported that she was the only woman to attempt a quad jump during the competition and that it was her best effort in three attempts, completing three-and-one-half revolutions, and called her free skating program "easily the most ambitious program"^[16] of the competition. Bonaly later told reporters that it was the first time she did not fall while attempting the quad.^[16] It was also the first time she won a bronze medal at an international competition.^[15] She performed a backflip for the audience during the awards ceremony.^[16]

Bonaly came in fifth place at the Skate America, in third place at the Skate Electric, and won the gold medal at the Grand Prix International de Paris and at the Nebelhorn Trophy.^[17][12] She won the gold medal at the World Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary, her final junior appearance.^[17] After earning her third national title, Bonaly competed at the European Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, where she won the gold medal.^[12][6] The world press "first took note"^[6] of Bonaly after the competition. She came in fifth place at the Worlds Championships.^[12] She attempted a quad jump during her free skate, but it was underrotated; she was so sure that she had landed it cleanly that she threw up her arms in excitement, tripped, and "belly flopped on the ice",^[9] as The New York Times put it, "for no apparent reason".^[18]

– season: Second European title and first Olympic appearance

In , Bonaly won Skate Canada and the Grand Prix de St. Gervais.^[17][12] She came in second place at the NHK Trophy, in third place at Skate America, and in fifth place at the Grand Prix de France.^[12] In January , Bonaly won the gold medal at the European Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland again,^[12] with "a cautious performance that was still good enough to win".^[19] She finished before German skaters Marina Kielmann and Patricia Neske, who came in second and third places, respectfully. Bonaly did not attempt her quad jump during the free skate, when she portrayed a bullfight in which the bull is spared, but was able to successfully accomplish five clean triple jumps.^[19] She also won the gold medal at French Nationals again.^[12]

In February , Bonaly participated in the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. She said later that it was her favorite Olympics because it was her first one and because it took place in her home country.^[20] As a citizen of the host country, Bonaly was chosen to represent France's athletes by taking the Olympic Oath. Her costumes were designed and donated to her by French fashion designer Christian Lacroix.^[5][6] Before the Olympics, The New York Times reported that Bonaly and her mother "engaged in a series of disputes"^[21] between her coach, Didier Gailhaguet, and Annick Dumont, her choreographer, which the French federation helped mediate.^[22] Susan Du later reported that Gailhaguet never lodged a complaint against Bonaly, but blamed Suzanne Bonaly for their dispute.^[6]

During a practice session a few hours before the short program in Albertville, Bonaly landed a backflip near Japan's Midori Ito;^[6] the Baltimore Sun reported that Ito was "forced to interrupt the final rehearsal of her program" and that she "never regained her composure",^[23] ultimately resulting in a fall 40 seconds after starting her short program during competition, replacing her planned triple Lutz jump for a triple Axel jump, and coming in fourth place. Shortly before the practice for the free skate, the referee of the women's competition at the Olympics gave Bonaly's mother "a rare warning"^[23] because officials had suspected for two years that Bonaly used the backflip in practices to intimidate other skaters. Her mother was furious about the warning, but passed it along to her daughter, who obeyed their demand.^[23]

Bonaly came in third place after the short program.^[9][2] During the free skating program, she became the first woman to attempt a quadruple jump at the Olympics,^[9] the toe loop jump; although she and her coach thought that she was successful, the jump was not fully rotated and the quad was downgraded. She attempted seven jumps during her free skate. She two-footed the landing on her triple Lutz jump and fell after a triple flip jump, but successfully completed a triple Salchow jump, a triple toe loop-triple toe loop combination jump, and a second triple Lutz jump.^[22] Bonaly later told reporters that she lost her concentration and felt "rattled right before going on the ice"^[22] because her mother was not allowed near the ice and because she and Gailhaguet disagreed about attempting the quad jump; he later reported that he told her not to attempt the quad jump, but that she did it, anyway.^[22][9] He also stated that Bonaly's mother had "made some enormous tactical errors, like changing Surya's Olympic long program at the last minute".^[21] Johnette Howard of Sports Illustrated said that Bonaly's decision to attempt the jump "scuttled her chances" at winning the gold medal in Albertville.^[5] According to Susan Du, the judges downgraded Bonaly's scores because it was "conceit to think she could land such a move, they seemed to say".^[6] Olympic champion Scott Hamilton, during his commentary of the event's broadcast, said that she was "cheated by half a turn"; he later said about her quest to successfully accomplish the quad jump: "It turned a lot of heads. She was trying, but she was always a little short of rotation".^[9] Bonaly came sixth place in the free skate and came in fifth place overall.^[21][5]

After the Olympics, Howard reported that the Bonalys moved to a resort in the French Alps, "to train and to heal".^[6] As Du put it, "the break was a necessary respite".^[6] Bonaly and Gailhaguet decided to part company shortly after the Olympics^[23] and she started working with André Brunet, an interim coach appointed by the French federation; according to The New York Times, they worked together for "an unsettling, contentious month".^[21] Howard reported that the French federation was "shopping Surya to six coaches, five of whom said they would be happy to take her if Suzanne stayed out of the rink",^[5] although the Bonalys said they were never consulted about their coaching situation. They considered having Bonaly become professional, but chose against it when the French federation opposed it.^[5]

Bonaly concluded her season at the World Championships in Oakland, California. Ranked tenth place in the short program and 12th place in the free skate, she finished in 11th place overall.^[21] Bonaly later criticized Brunet's coaching style and said that "Oakland was the pits".^[21]

– season: First World silver medal

From April to September , Bonaly was coached mainly by her mother. She made two-month-long visits, in June and September, to coach Frank Carroll in southern California. Although she wanted to stay to work with him, the French skating federation was opposed to its skaters training abroad.^[24]Alain Giletti became her coach, commuting four times a week by train from Tours to Paris, and her mother filled in during his absences.^[24]

During the summer of , Bonaly signed a contract to join Tom Collins' troop, Champions on Ice, two months a year. It enabled her to show her technical abilities without limitations, because she could perform somersaults and other actions that were prohibited in competition.

In , Bonaly won the Nations Cup and the NHK Trophy.^[17] Bonaly won the European Championships in Helsinki, having placed first in both segments ahead of Ukraine's Oksana Baiul and Germany's Marina Kielmann. At the World Championships in Prague, she took silver behind Oksana Baiul, who had higher presentation scores.^[17][25] But Bonaly had significantly more technical content than the winner. Bonaly performed seven triples, a triple-triple combination, and two triple Lutzes, while Baiul performed five triples but did not attempt a jump combination.

– season

Bonaly came in first place at the NHK Trophy.^[17] In January , Bonaly placed first in all segments on her way to her fourth consecutive continental title at the Europeans Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. The other medalists were Ukraine's Oksana Baiul and Russia's Olga Markova.

A month later, Bonaly competed at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Ranked third in the short program and fourth in the free skate, she finished fourth overall behind Ukraine's Oksana Baiul, American Nancy Kerrigan, and Chen Lu from China.^[17]

The media criticized Surya's mother, Suzanne Bonaly, for allegedly being too strict with her daughter. Surya ran every morning, was forbidden to eat sugar, and had to be in bed by nine.^[26] Because Suzanne Bonaly was a physical education teacher, she stressed athletic prowess rather than the grace of a dancer in Surya's skating routines.^[26] Suzanne Bonaly believes that she was criticized because of others' jealousy about Bonaly's abilities.^[27] Bonaly and her mother moved to Pralognan-la-Vanoise, where the skater could train out of the public eye.^[5]

World Championships

At the World Championships in Chiba, Japan, Bonaly's final overall score was equal to that of home country favorite Yuka Sato. Sato was awarded the gold medal after a 5–4 tiebreaker decision.^[28]

Bonaly had expected the judges to reward her for improving her gracefulness, having stopped trying to land quadruple jumps, and having improved from previous championships, where she also finished second. Bonaly also cut her thickly braided ponytail because the judges didn't like it.^[29] She claims to have made concessions to please the judges but did not believe she was sufficiently recognized or rewarded for them. Bonaly told the French podcast Surya Bonaly, corps et lames: "I did everything I could, but I didn't paint myself white, that's for sure."^[30]

Upset by the result in Chiba, Bonaly stood beside the medals platform rather than on it. She eventually was coaxed onto the platform but took off her silver medal after it was presented to her; the crowd booed her for this action.^[31] After the medals presentation, Bonaly's only statement to reporters was: "I'm just not lucky."

The international judge Anne Hardy-Thomas, from France, who did not participate in this competition, commented on the judges' decision. She said that the judges are under great pressure, as their names are displayed opposite their notes. She said she had sometimes placed a French skater lower in order to avoid being accused of favoritism.^[26] American judges were thought to value a graceful skater who meets the beauty standards, such as Nancy Kerrigan, while European judges, particularly of the Eastern bloc, favored skaters who were strong athletes and creative in their programs, such as Bonaly.^[26]

The international federation first thought of punishing Bonaly for her actions, but decided to let it go, understanding that she was severely disappointed by the results.^[32]

– season: Fifth European title

Bonaly came in first place at the Skate America.^[17] In , Bonaly won the European Championships for the fifth time, overtaking short-program winner Markova. At the World Championships in Birmingham, England, she placed fourth in the short program but rose to second after the free skate. She was awarded her third World silver medal, behind Chen Lu of China.^[33][17] For the third consecutive year, she lost the gold medal by one-tenth of a point, the score of one judge. Her free skate had the most difficult technical content, with two triple Lutzes, two triple-triple combos, and seven triples.

– season

In autumn , Bonaly competed in the inaugural ISU Champions Series. She finished third and fourth at her assignments, which was not enough to qualify to the seven-woman final. Ranked first in the short program and second in the free skate, Bonaly took silver behind Russia's Irina Slutskaya at the European Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. She finished fifth at the World Championships in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She had placed seventh in the short, where she fell on a triple Lutz, and fifth in the free.

– season

In May , Bonaly ruptured her achilles tendon while doing acrobatics.^[34] Due to the injury, she missed much of the following season.^[35] The French federation initially decided not to name her to the European Championships in Paris, believing that she lacked fitness, but Bonaly successfully appealed.^[34] She finished 9th overall after placing 6th in qualifying group B, 6th in the short program, and 10th in the free skate. She was not included in France's two-women team to the World Championships, passed over in favor of Vanessa Gusmeroli, the top French finisher at Europeans, and Laetitia Hubert, who placed behind Bonaly at the same event.

– season: Third Olympics

During the season, Bonaly was coached by her mother Suzanne Bonaly and Tatiana Tarasova in Marlborough, Massachusetts, United States.^[1] For her free skating program, Bonaly returned to music from Vivaldi'sFour Seasons, which she had used in previous seasons.^[36]

Prior to the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Bonaly ruptured her achilles tendon.^[37] She placed 6th in the short program. Knowing that she was out of medal contention, unable to complete her planned routine or a successful triple Lutz due to injury, she decided to perform a backflip with a split landing on one blade during the free skate. (This move is now dubbed a "Bonaly"). Backflips had been banned since from competitions held under ISU rules. Having landed on one foot, Bonaly hoped to avoid a deduction but did have points deducted.^[7] She was still pleased to have performed it.^[38][39] Bonaly is the first and only Olympic figure skater to land a backflip on one blade.

She turned her back to the judges when she completed her program. Anne Hardy-Thomas, the French judge of the event, was approached by the technical delegate, who told her that Bonaly was insolent and had behaved unacceptably. The judge replied, "She did well for all the past years".^[27] According to figure skating writer and historian Ellyn Kestnbaum, represented Bonaly's statement that at that point in her career, she was skating more for her fans than for the judges. Kestnbaum reports that observers interpreted Bonaly's behavior as disrespectful towards the judges and towards figure skating officials, and that it "signified Bonaly's decision to play a game she could win—popularity with fans—rather than placing herself in the position of being determined worthy, or on this occasion more likely unworthy, according to the technical judging criteria".^[36]

Bonaly finished tenth in Nagano and retired from amateur competition after the event.

Her skating clubs were CSG Pralognan^[1] and CSG Champigny.^[2]

Technical statistics

Jump combinations

Bonaly was known for her way of performing jumps and making very difficult new combinations&#;:

• European Championships in Birmingham and World championships in Paris: 1st female figure skater to attempt the Lutz – triple toe loop combination.
• Skate America in Oakland: 1st female figure skater to attempt the flip – triple toe loop combination.
• Skate Canada in London: 1st female figure skater to attempt the triple – triple – double (triple toe loop – triple toe loop – double toe loop) combination.
• NHK Trophy in Tokyo: 1st female figure skater to attempt the Salchow – triple toe loop combination.
• World Championships in Prague: 1st female figure skater to attempt the toe loop – half loop – triple Salchow combination.
• Piruetten in Hamar: 1st female figure skater to attempt two triple – triple combinations in a free skate. She attempted the combination again at the Olympic Games and at the World Championships in and in by performing in the same free skate the flip – triple toe loop combination and the toe loop – half loop – triple Salchow jump sequence.
• Olympic Games in Nagano: 1st female figure skater to attempt a triple – triple combination at the Olympic Games in the short program (triple toe loop – triple toe loop).

Quadruple jumps

• Bonaly was the first female figure skater to attempt a quadruple jump in competition at the European Championships.
• She tried at least thirteen times to do the quadruple toe loop or / and the quadruple Salchow in competition: two attempts at quad jumps at the European Championships (salchow and toe loop), a quad toe loop attempt at the World Championships, a quad toe loop attempt at the Goodwill Games, a quad Salchow attempt at the Trophée Lalique, a quad toe loop attempt at the World Championships in , a quad toe loop attempt at the NHK Trophy, a quad toe loop attempt at the French Championships, a quad toe loop attempt at the Olympic Games, a quad toe loop attempt at the World Championships, a quad Salchow attempt at the Skate America, a quad Salchow attempt at the Piruetten and a quad Salchow attempt at the World Championships.
• She landed the quad toe loop four times in competition: at the World Championships, at the NHK Trophy, at the Olympic Games, and at the World Championships, but always with incomplete rotation that cost her points.
• At the European Championships in Leningrad, she was the first figure skater to attempt two different quads in the same free skate (Salchow and toe loop).

Backflip

• As Hines put it, Bonaly is "remembered especially for her signature back flip".^[17] She performed her first backflip at an exhibition at the age of twelve in Annecy. Bonaly is also the first and only Olympic figure skater to land a backflip on one blade. On several occasions she has completed a backflip landing on two blades, followed by a triple toe loop, a backflip landing on one blade, followed by a triple Salchow, and two backflips in a row. Bonaly performed a backflip at her last professional competition at the Olympic Games where she received a deduction for doing it. The deduction was mandatory given that backflips had been classified as an illegal move since After retirement, at age 40, she performed her last backflip in public at an exhibition in São Paulo, Brazil. The backflip remained prohibited in competitions until the season when the ban was finally lifted.

Later professional career

As a professional, Bonaly had a "long and successful career".^[17] She performed in many ice shows and competed and won many professional competitions.^[17] She toured with the Champions on Ice skating show for several years;^[40] it went out of business after She also performed in shows in Russia with Evgeni Plushenko and was a guest skater at Ice Theatre of New York's December gala in NYC. She successfully performed her backflip there.^[41]

Bonaly was an off-screen character on the "Will on Ice" episode of NBC's Will & Grace, which originally aired on 12 January ^[42] In , she was a finalist on La Ferme Célébrités season 3.

She appeared in the Netflix documentary series Losers, which explores the lives of individuals who bounced back from loss or perceived failure. Bonaly's episode, entitled "Judgement", focused on her defiance, "longevity" on the ice, and refusal to submit to conventions.^[43] In , she underwent surgery after the discovery of numerous cysts along her spinal cord. This ended her performing career.^[44]

Bonaly is coaching in Las Vegas while regularly doing seminars abroad.^[45]

Racism in figure skating

In an interview with the BBC, when asked if she ever felt that things were harder for her as one of the first black figure skaters, Bonaly said:

"It was a mix of so many things. First, because I was black for sure and I didn't try to copy anyone. Second, because I came from a small country. Third, because I've had a different hairstyle and look and also because my mother made my skating costumes for so many years. All those things together was just too much for some people to handle."^[7]

In an interview with The Root, Bonaly said: "Race matters for sure, because I know that if I'd been white, I would have had more [endorsement] contracts and been bigger."^[46]

Bonaly elaborated on the matter when interviewed by Mathieu Méranville for his book Sport, malédiction des Noirs? ():

"There aren't many black figure skaters in the world. In France, it's starting to get better. If I were white, I would have been a gold medalist a long time ago. My motto was to tell myself that there was this obstacle but that I had to go beyond and work more because I knew it would be harder for me. I told myself that if my rival made five triples, I had to make seven. I tried not to think about race even if it was a reality. But how much influence race had on my marks? Two percent? More? I don't know. If I were light-skinned, it probably would have been easier. I preferred to be philosophical about it, since I was evolving with white parents."^[47]

Activism

Bonaly takes part in numerous conferences and events directed to encourage the participation in sport of people of colour.

She also became active in animal issues, participating in numerous PETA's campaigns against Canada's seal hunt and the fur trade.^[48]

Bonaly is also against bullfighting. She asked to meet with president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, who received her at the Élysée Palace on 26 September , to address the abolition of bullfighting and to prohibit attendance at bullfighting by children under age ^[49]

Bonaly was a member of the federal council of the French Federation of Ice Sports from to She served as the cultural attaché for the Monaco consulate in Las Vegas.^[50]

She was the ambassador of the association "France of talents and colors", which aims to fight against racism, violence, and discrimination in sport.^[51]

Personal life

Bonaly became an American citizen in January ^[52] She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[45] Bonaly became engaged to skating coach Peter Biver on 18 September ^[44]

Bonaly was raised as a vegetarian by her parents and has maintained that practice.^[53][54]

Awards and honors

Programs

Competitive highlights

References