Surya Bonaly’s Illegal Backflip
At the 1994 Olympics, Surya Bonaly and skater Yuka Sato were in a close race for gold. Bonaly, however, was awarded silver. Bonaly’s style of skating has been described as “gymnastic”, and she often found herself losing to more “artistic” skaters, which many felt was partially a racial slight. In protest, Bonaly removed her medal, and was booed. In the 1998 Olympics, Bonaly’s scores left her far away from medal contention. Knowing she had no chance, she performed a backflip, an illegal move. Bonaly said, “I wanted to do something to please the crowd, not the judges. The judges are not pleased no matter what I do.”