These incredible ice skating moves are banned at the Winter Olympics

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Originally published at: These incredible ice skating moves are banned at the Winter Olympics | Boing Boing

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I may be misremembering but didn’t Scott Hamilton do a backflip in the '84 LA Olympics?

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He did not do it in competition at the olympics, but he did it in other contexts…

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No mention of the Iron Lotus?

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Leaving this one alone

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A little more backstory from Secret Base:

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I would disagree with that assessment. I would argue the moves were banned because black women were doing them and everything black women do in figure skating is considered “athletic but not graceful”, which is of course transparently racist bullshit.

Figure skating judging is very political and very racist. If the pearl clutching safety concerns were true, football and many other sports would be banned outright. It’s not like there was some epidemic of skaters somehow cutting themselves with their own skates during backflips. The old guard institutions just don’t like moves that the white women can’t or won’t do.

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I don’t know about the other moves, but the backflip was specifically banned in 1976 after Terry Kubicka (a white guy) did it in competition. The young women mentioned in the article did it in the 90s, long after it was banned and she did it with the full knowledge that it was banned…

But otherwise, I agree that how these sports are judge are often political and racist.

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I have distinct memories of watching someone’s
ice dancing performance a few decades ago where her comedic routine was to pretend like she was a completely out-of-control beginner klutz. (Seems like it must have been during the Olympics because that’s really the only time I see ice dancing, but I could be mistaken) It was an impressive routine where she constantly seemed to be on the verge of a bad fall. At one point her leg (intentionally) swung up over the edge of the rink and her skate unfortunately struck a spectator who was leaning too far forward in the face. She finished the routine in tears, and I felt awful for her and the person who was injured. I have to imagine that might have led to a banned move. Is anyone else familiar with the performance I’m talking about?

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Came here to mention this. Thank you.

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I began figure skating as a freshman in college - I took it as a phys-ed course. I stopped during my 30’s and then started again. So, I’ve been skating a LONG time!

Surya Bonaly is my all time favorite skater! I just love her! It’s sad how she was treated while she was competing - she was truly the best! As Scott Hamilton said, I can’t remember who beat her. I only remember her.

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