Surya talks about her life, from the childhood in France until the Olympics. A story of courage, broken rules, but also cooperation - between her and her family, as she wouldn’t have achieved all of this alone, and between athletes around the world, as sports can overcome also the most rigid national barriers. Surya Bonaly is a French ex-ice skater.
Born in Nice, but native from Réunion, Surya was adopted when she was just 18 months old and started skating at the age of 11. French National Champion for 9 consecutive years and European for 5, she was the first female skater in history to try a quadruple jump at the 1989 European Championships. She also competed at the Winter Olympics in 1990, where she gained the 5th place, and in 1994, where she arrived 4th.
However, she is famous not only for her medals: in fact, she is the only skater in the world that can do a backflip landing on one foot. Once lost the possibility to win, Surya did this jump - forbidden in the official competitions - in her free skating at the 1998 Olympics, being so penalized by the judges, but celebrated by the audience.
Today, she is an ice-skating coach in the US This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx