Surya Bonaly (FRA) - 1995 World Figure Skating Championships, Ladies' Free Skate

[stanuris]

love the fluff

[txbadgirl1]

Totally an underrated skater. She had the moves, the jumps and I only wished she skated on her edges more....but she NEVER gave up!

[snofagun1814]

get out of poor chen lu's face dummy it's called timing is everything

[twilliger123]

She was always excting, that's for sure, but you don't win with such sloppy jumps, alot two footed or under rotated, crappy artistry and as Sandra said basic technique. Just not there!

[missmaybesomeday]

It wasn't Surya the judges hated - it was her nut of her mother.

[OlympicDream19]

3:40 Beautiful Woman

[tontoguy]

GBR gave her 5.6 on TECHNICAL MERIT... REALLY?

[Telltaleheart79]

@tontoguy GBR commentators always had nothing but nasty comments for her.

[TeamKween2010]

The interview at the end makes no sense to me. Why are they interviewing Lu Chen and saying she is China's First World Champion. Isn't it true that if Michelle Kwan won the free skate, she legitimately would have won the title? :)

[3Axel1996]

@TeamKween2010 It was obvious that NBC didn't think Michelle had a chance at the Gold. I'm sure the interview would have been edited out from the final broadcast had Michelle won the Free Skate and ended up taking the Gold.

[TeamKween2010]

@3Axel1996 That is really interesting. Thanks for letting me know. :)

[EdGringo78]

@TeamKween2010 Because Michelle Kwan is not from China. She's from America. Although, her parents are from China and Hong Kong.

[TeamKween2010]

@EdGringo78 No no no. I meant there was Michelle hadn't skated yet. But if she won the long program, she would have won the gold medal. But 3Axel1996 did answer my question. See above. :)

[EdGringo78]

@TeamKween2010 LOL, I misunderstood your comment!! Thanks for clearing that up!!

:-D

[schulz1]

Surya was always screwed by the judges.

[frenchinsaneguy]

@schulz1 It's very true, I think they genuinely hated her. I remember growing up watching the world championships and they always were so tough with her?

[russianskatingfan]

@schulz1 Maybe at times but not here. Her jumps werent even her best in this competition and many of her key jumps in this program werent clean, underrotated or two footed and her technical marks were too high considering.

[slater4cc]

Does anyone know how many points she would have received for a double axel double axel combination in today's point system?

[Jebrista]

@slater4cc She would have gotten 5.28 points

[Demetri450]

She is very difficult to watch. She can jump but has very little grace.

[PlanetK4]

I for one am glad lu chen beat her. Lu chen's program was beautifully choreographed and was very unique. Chen's jumps were also more cleanly and elegantly landed. Surya's jumps were scratchy and loud and the landings had some minor difficulties such as pulls and two footed landings. Then, her choreography is of such lower quality that Chen's that it wouldnt have been possible for her to win. Her skating skills needed much work as they were scratchy and loud. :(

[cdnserbluvr]

WTF? Why were they saying she was the new World Champion at that point? Michelle was still to skate. Chen was in 3rd, Kwan 5th after the Short, so Kwan could have won the free skate and still beat her to the title.

[MrFieston]

surya impresionante un fan de las palmas de gran canaria

[intldawn]

If Surya ever had a legit claim to the World title, it was in 1993. Her long program in Prague was the best skate of her career--no underrotated jumps and wonderful expression. She was cheated out of gold. Yes, she was not exactly beloved by judges but she wasn't exactly shunned, either. You don't win five European titles--two at the expense of Baiul--if the judges hate you. Some of her poor results were her own doing--her difficult free skate at '94 Olympics, for example.

[ffartisan]

This is my favorite program of Surya's. If the new judging system had been in place she would have won.

[pinto89100]

@ffartisan I'm going to have to disagree strongly with this. The current system awards the whole package even more than than the old system did. While artistry is subjective, it's undeniable that Surya needed a LOT of work on her basics and edging. Plus, she would have been called on for having under rotated jumps (something she did constantly in competitions). Callings like those were not as strict or costly as they are now.

[JNagarya]

@pinto89100 Artistry is not at all entirely subjective,, as you suggest -- and as you indicate by pointing to those basics.

Bonaly was never an attractive skater -- so applying "artistry" to her is like skiing with railroad ties on one's feet.

[MrDolenz]

slightly drab . but ok

[metsdudenj]

This bitch acted like a stupid cunt on the podium at the 94 worlds. She sucked as a skater and had no edges, artistry. A gymnast who tried to become a skater. Her mother was also a mouthy cunt also. She never belonged on the top of the podium.

She lied about her past, and with her fake weave she wanted to try to make her more exotic.

[russianskatingfan]

I thought she deserved to win the long program. This was by far the best technical skate of the evening and her artistry was quite good in this program. Then again I dont think she deserved to win overall since her short program sucked and she would have with her generous short program placing had she won the long, so in a way I am glad she didnt.

[Dylvente]

I like Bezic's commentary generally, but she makes some mistakes and omissions. Chen landed 5 triples not 6, Bonaly 7 not 8; and at least two of Bonaly's were insufficient, two very underrotated and the second lutz perhaps two-footed.

[intldawn]

@Dylvente Well said, but I can't stand Bezic's commentary. It was bearable back then but it's insufferable now. Especially next to Scott Hamilton who used to be a very good commentator, but gets way too excited about absolutely everything and declares every decent skate a great moment in skating history to be remembered. Please.

[Dylvente]

@intldawn I really miss Peggy Fleming and Dick Button. Their comments could be annoying too, sometimes, but they (Button especially) paid more critical attention to elements besides jumps, helping viewers to understand, for example, what made a good layback and what made a bad one.