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Surya Bonaly
| Biography |
Surya Bonaly (born December 15, 1973 in Nice, France) is a French professional figure skater.
Bonaly began skating when she was eighteen months old. As a child, her skating heroes were Midori Ito and Brian Boitano. She went on to become a nine-time winner of the French National Championships (1989 - 1997) and won the European Figure Skating Championships five times (1991 - 1995), yet never placed first in the World Figure Skating Championships nor in the Winter Olympics.
Formerly a world champion gymnast, Bonaly is famous for her backflip landed on one blade; she is the only skater in the world capable of this move. Bonaly is just as famous for her defiant, saucy attitude. This attitude was on display during the 1994 World Figure Skating Championships in Chiba, Japan. With Nancy Kerrigan and Oksana Baiul out, it was an open field for the championship. Bonaly skated a clean performance but, according to the judges, home country favorite Yuka Sato skated a better one. Bonaly thought she was robbed and defiantly stood aside the medals platform rather than on it. Although she was coaxed into standing on the platform, Bonaly took off her medal after it was presented to her and was immediately booed by the crowd. After the medals presentation, a crying Bonaly was greeted by reporters.
Having lost any chance for a medal during the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan due to a missed triple Salchow jump, Bonaly decided to end her amateur career with a symbolic gesture: she performed her signature back flip -- an illegal move under International Skating Union rules -- in front of the judges. She was penalized for it and finished tenth in the competition.
Bonaly resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA and became an American citizen in November 2003. She is currently touring with Champions on Ice.
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