icenetwork.com

Surya Bonaly hung out with youngsters Joel, Annabelle and Rebekah Schneider-Farris during her recent trip to Colorado. (Jo Ann Schneider Farris)

By Jo Ann Schneider Farris, special to icenetwork.com

(05/24/2009) - Surya Bonaly won the French national title nine times and the European figure skating title five times. She placed second at the world championships three times. She did not win an Olympic medal but is known as one of the greatest female jumpers in recent figure skating history. She placed fifth in the 1992 Winter Olympics and fourth in the 1994 Games. She was known for an athletic and aggressive skating style. She is also remembered for her exotic costumes and for being the first woman to attempt a quadruple jump.

In addition, Bonaly is known for being one of the only skaters who can land a back flip on one foot on the ice, and she is remembered for doing that move at the 1998 Olympics, where she finished in a disappointing 10th place. The back flip isn't allowed in eligible competition, so it didn't help Bonaly's cause with the judges. It is said that she did the illegal move to leave her mark on the figure skating world since she knew she would not make the podium.

Bonaly is also remembered for what was considered to be a bit of a defiant attitude. She was not pleased with the silver medal she was awarded at the 1994 ISU World Figure Skating Championships. At the awards ceremony, she at first refused to stand on the podium. She was finally coaxed to take the podium, but she removed the medal from her neck right after the Japanese national anthem, played in honor of the winner, Yuka Sato.

Bonaly was born on December 15, 1973, in Nice, France. She was adopted as a baby and began ice skating when she was about 18 months old. She also competed in gymnastics and diving. She won the World Junior Tumbling Championships in 1986.

Her principal coach throughout her competitive skating career was Didier Gailhaguet, the President of the French Ice Sports Federation. She was also coached by her mother, Suzanne.

It is known that Gailhaguet fabricated a story about Bonaly's origins. As a publicity stunt, it was said that she had been born at the exotic, remote, Reunion Island, before being adopted and brought to France. CBS even included the story in the television coverage of the 1989 World Figure Skating Championships. There also had been a story that Bonaly's extraordinary talent had been discovered by Gailhaguet at a public skating session.

"Actually, I wanted to skate in Didier Gailhaguet's competitive figure skating program and asked if I could take part," explains Bonaly.

After the 1998 Olympics, Bonaly competed professionally and won many professional titles. She is still able to perform her trademark, one-footed back flip and execute triple jumps.

In 2004, Bonaly became a U.S. citizen and moved to the United States.

In 2006, she applied for reinstatement in order to compete in the Olympics, but her request was denied. Bonaly states that she believes she would have done well under the new International Judging System and that her creative spins and triple jumps would have earned many points.

She now lives in Las Vegas, where she team-teaches skating with her mother, a former physical education teacher. She and her mother ended up in Las Vegas by accident. They had originally made plans to live in San Francisco, but after spending a few weeks at the Cirque du Soleil acrobatics camp in Las Vegas, Bonaly bought a home there.

Life in Nevada has been pleasant. Teaching skating and performing professionally keeps Bonaly busy. She toured with Champions on Ice for several years. In December 2008, she performed in the Benefit Gala of the Ice Theatre of New York.

During the 2009 Memorial Day weekend, Bonaly took a quick trip to Colorado Springs, Colo., after being invited by Dorota Kamieniecki, mother of Ola Kamieniecki, a young Colorado-based figure skater. Bonaly's busy weekend was packed with lessons to enthusiastic young skaters.

Bonaly describes her Colorado trip as a very positive experience and said, "We had talked about me coming, and finally everything came together, and I decided to take the trip to Colorado. The time in Colorado was great, since I want to help today's up-and-coming figure skaters. I want to give them something different. I am interested in supplementing what other coaches give their students. I especially want to pass on my love of life and figure skating to everyone who comes my way. I'm also proud to be an American citizen."