At long last, I get to combine two of my great passions: French history and 1990s women’s figure skating! Let’s face it, France hasn’t produced that many great female skaters over the decades. Male skaters like Alain Calmat and Pierre Péra made their way to the champion’s podium, but as the end of the 20th century approached, French women had yet to clinch a single individual medal. At the beginning of the 1990s, however, a once-in-a-generation talent arrived, giving France its first shot at a women’s medal in 40 years. You’d think France would be thrilled, right? But Surya Bonaly was not the skating talent they’d expected: eccentric, defiant, athletic – and black. In the age of “ice princesses”, Surya was an anomaly, and the figure skating world feared the kind of future she represented. Frustrated at every turn, she faced disappointment after disappointment until at last, with the whole world watching, Surya decided to make figure skating history – on her own terms.

Episode 62: “Surya Bonaly”

Surya Bonaly at the Olympics:

1992 Albertville Olympics:

1994 Lillehammer Olympics:

1998 Nagano Olympics:

Transcript

Bienvenue and welcome back to The Land of Desire. I’m your host, Diana, and I’m really excited about this m...

62. Surya Bonaly

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