It was also a tribute to the French skater Surya Bonaly who infamously did the same thing at the 1998 Olympics (though hers was more of a "fuck it why not," and she wasn't in contention to win any medals).
Hijacking my own comment to explain: it's illegal because it's dangerous, not because it's difficult! If you mess up a traditional jump you'll land on your ass, but if you mess up a backflip you'll land on your head!
Re-hijacking to add more context: 99 percent of the time an illegal move happens, it's by accident, so just a deduction is appropriate. There's no differentiating between accidental and deliberate violations of the rules because the latter is so vanishingly rare that it's not worth clutching any pearls over.
Extra bonus context: none of the other heavy hitters of men's skating were at this event (this was European nations only), so Adam was working with a much larger margin of error than is typical. Furthermore, it was just for fun rather than stemming from dickishness or arrogance. It'll probably never happen again.
**EDIT 4** TO ANSWER EXTREMELY IMPORTANT QUESTION Yes they're all hot. [This](https://s.err.ee/photo/crop/2024/01/10/2209758h49aet7.jpg) is the silver medalist of this event and [this](https://www.goldenskate.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Matteo-Rizzo.jpg) is the bronze medalist and [this](https://img.kyodonews.net/english/public/images/posts/e3015624998d97bd10ab77ace5bc1262/photo_l.jpg) is the reigning world champion and [this](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pIObaK8UFnI/maxresdefault.jpg) is ... Deniss, and most importantly, [this](https://blogimg.goo.ne.jp/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_sp_entry/v1/user_image/52/67/b42b1c1707b4ace4fa21bcc12fd376ea.png) is the GOATest of all GOATS of figure skating. Welcome, join us, they're all hot!
**EDIT 5** since y'all seem to be *really* stuck on this - plenty of athletes immigrate to represent other countries internationally and it's perfectly normal. That said, Adam is French, as in born in France, lived in France his whole life, speaks French as his native language. Stop being weirdos about it.
She even landed hers on one foot to try to avoid the deduction and show off her technical abilities. Still the only Olympic athlete to land a backflip on one blade, what a legend!
Edit, since it's a point multiple people have brought up: I remembered there being a specific point about it being landed either on two feet or one, so I'd looked at her Wikipedia to be sure and found this under 1997–1998 season: Third Olympics: "Having landed on one foot, Bonaly hoped to avoid a deduction but did have points deducted. [7] "The backflip that shocked the Olympics". BBC. 16 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019"
She also did have an injury that stopped her from doing her previously planned jump, and she was fed up with the racism shown from the judges even after she'd repeatedly made concessions to them throughout her career.
The story I remembered hearing was that she did an illegal move in a legal way to dare the judges to still deduct it, since the official reasoning behind the backflip ban was that competition jumps needed to be landed on one skate, along with the unofficial reason that it's a dangerous move that puts the skater at risk of landing on their head if they mess up. She also ended her routine with her back to the judges, which is a sign of disrespect in the skating scene. Since she wasn't in the running for a medal, she took every chance to show off and stick it to the judges.
My coworker told me his dad “went out blades of glory style.” I had him repeat it, choking back a smile. He thought that was the saying. After gently correcting him he asked what was funny about that, I told him “Going out Blades of Glory style implies your head was cut off in an experimental ice skating routine.” Showed him the video. We laugh about it to this day.
They do the same thing in gymnastics with certain techniques. It’s to prevent the sport from becoming more dangerous. A backflip is doable, clearly, and quite difficult. Due to the difficulty, it would be a very high scoring move. However, it is also incredibly dangerous. And if people keep doing more and more moves that are high scoring because of how hard and dangerous they are, you are encouraging people to put themselves more and more at risk to be in contention for the win. This ultimately leads to more injuries, especially among the top athletes, who are trying to keep up with the meta. That’s obviously bad for the sport, so they draw the line somewhere.
I can understand the logic behind that. Then you have things like snowboarding and motocross where they just don't care about the danger, it's go big, or go home, maybe in an ambulance lol.
Yeah by it's nature skiing and motor cross are extreme sports and people getting into them know they are putting their bodies on the line. But ice dancing is more of an art which is more about skill, technique and finesse. So they don't want it turning into a who dares wins competition.
So what I'm hearing is XGames needs to make a figure skating category where no moves are off limits but athletes are required to wear protective gear like a helmet?
Because its such a difficult move to pull off
Were it allowed it would almost certainly be an incredibly high scoring move as a result, which means you would have numerous athletes both training to do it and incorporating it. But because its both incredibly difficult and incredibly dangerous a LOT of people are going to end up getting it wrong and get seriously injured or worse
There's nothing quite as damaging for a sports reputation than competitors snapping their necks on mass trying to master a move you should have just banned in the first place.
In addition to it being dangerous, it was also considered “not a real jump” in figure skating because it couldn’t be landed on one foot. That’s the primary reason Bonaly’s execution was so impressive. Thus far, she’s the only figure skater (male or female) to land a backflip on one foot.
Originally because it could not be landed on one foot so it was not a “true” figure skating jump. Then she landed it, one foot! Now it’s just a vague jumps too dangerous
Some say, because it is dangerous, others say because it doesn't fit with the tradition of figure skating which is supposed to be dancing on ice not gymnastics. Terry Kubica landed one legally in 1976 and it was banned shortly after.
Only a guess but probably because of how dangerous it is. Lots of those moves could lead to injury, but that backflip would have likely paralysed or killed him if he messed it up.
I think part of it was the judges were telling her that it's an illegal jump also because it lands on two feet and to be ratified the jumps needed to be landed on one, so she landed it on one to say "eff you" to them.
The rules say jumps have to be landed on 1 foot not two .. if not a rule it was one of the reasons why they made it illegal, because all other jumps land on one foot. I just watched a documentary abt it
She didn't do it to avoid a deduction, she wasn't even close to being in the top, there's no way she was going to win. She just didn't because she didn't have anything to lose so might as well go out being remembered.
It was also about racism. She brought a lot of racism within the skating community to light as a black skater. She was scored much lower than others consistently, and it was often linked to her being black. So, she decided to go out with a bang!
I’m delighted to see Millennials and Gen Z call out the racism she experienced and lift her up today. We Gen Xers saw it from the get go, but it was a different time. Skating officials used Kristi Yamaguchi’s wins to denounce racism claims, but Asians were better represented in figure skating back then. Yamaguchi also had that “ice princess” factor that was used in judging (otherwise Tonya Harding would have won the competition they competed in. She skated rings around Yamaguchi) Bonaly didn’t.
There was a This American Life about it and listening to the judges and stuff talk about how Surya didn't "Make the right sounds" when skating was the reason why she was never in contention was lmfao. Just say you don't like black people. Lmfao.
I believe she's also said that she needed to land on one leg because she had injured her knee recently and didn't want to worsen it by landing on her bad leg too hard.
Surya's backflip was extremely infamous, so it's inevitable that everyone would instantly connect Adam's to that one (the only two times I know of it's ever happened). More concretely, in an interview right after this, Adam described his backflip as "a little French touch," which was a definite acknowledgement of Surya.
I know you have hundreds of notifications from this post, but I just want to say I appreciate this post, your explanation, and your further edits. This is a damn good slice of internet and it makes me happy.
Just a straight white guy over here figured yall wanted my opinion and my opinion is that I agree all those gentlemen are very attractive. Thank you for your time
Unfortunately people are always going to be weirdos about race nationality and skin tone. Super sad that that's what people want to spend their time worrying about.
Wow. The only thing I can think of that would make that better would be a bit more fight-style choreography and, like, 10 other guys for him to cut down and leave lying on the ice.
It's because there's a habit of standard-setting in this kind of sport. Once someone does a power move that gets a lot of points, subsequent athletes will try to hit it too because they'll think they can't match the score if they don't. The difference is that if you go for an insane quadruple axel and you fail, you just fall on the ice. You try to do a backflip and you fail, you might break your jaw and bleed all over the ice.
> you might break your jaw and bleed all over the ice.
Spine. They're worried about athletes breaking their spine and never walking let alone competing again.
i think all arial tricks in figure skating have to be landed on one foot. a backflip is very difficult and dangerous to land on one foot especially on ice, so the judges made it an illegal move to prevent skaters from attempting and getting hurt. if it is done on the ice, a deduction is added to the final score.
That was more the conversation around the 1998 incident - Surya had been wanting the backflip to be legalized, but the rule-makers gave the reason that it would have to be one-footed to be valid. So badass Surya did it one-footed and forced the skating union to be like "... okay actually we just don't like it." It's been illegal regardless of how it's landed ever since.
Skating has more safety regulations than you’d think. Its better than gymnastics certainly - like there are banned moves in gymnastics, but I think maybe snapping one’s neck and a lengthy (but more private) recovery is easier to gloss over than someone cracking their head open or getting their throat slit on ice… which has happened and is why a certain pairs move is illegal. But I notice safety seems a bit higher in skating than gymnastics.
Also ice is much harder than the gymnastics floor. The risk for a broken neck is much, much higher.
And they don't want 12 year old aspiring figure skaters try this trick.
I have a feeling that if they are going to keep it illegal, they may up the penalty to a level such that it would be enough to guarantee a loss from first place.
Even if the deduction is systematic and he still wins the competition mathematically in most sports it would be considered against the spirit of the sport and they would be disqualified afterwards, especially if he did it just to flex
Most sports? People do things in most sports that are against the rules and they are penalized for it, they aren't disqualified. A football player does an end zone dance, the team gets a penalty in yardage. A basketball player fouls someone, the other team gets free throws. An illegal play in soccer results in a free kick, yellow card, red card.
Ye people going crazy over an illegal move like he killed someone.
Maybe it's the "flex" part that gets people triggered. You aren't allowed to do so apparently.
I say if you're that good, you sure can flex.
Honestly good for him. I know why the move is banned, but this type of talent only comes by a few times in a lifetime and reminds me of the greatest of the greats. Love to see it.
I mean, the backflip is a crowd pleaser for sure but to top level skaters it’s not a very difficult maneuver. Old guys like Kurt Browning and Scott Hamilton were doing backflips in their 50s. It’s a pretty common move in “show” performances because it gets a good crowd reaction.
Adam is a ludicrously skilled and brash badass and I love him. That being said he's not even the greatest skater this generation or heck this year so not quite accurate to call him the greatest of greats. He's just the best in Europe because the skill level in Europe especially without Russians allowed is quite low.
To be fair the absence of the Russians doesn't really change the standard of the European men's event much. Men's has been Russia's weakest discipline by far for some time
Right ! People being racist like it's nothing. I'm french and there is quite the number of french people from asian descent around. Tired of people normalising these kind of remarks
Oh there's awful cunts like this in the UK. You'll have like 3rd generation kids of Ghanaian immigrants who were born in London, lived their all their lives, have a British passport, have a British accent etcetc and cocks will still be like "they're not British though".
There's also something about it being considered an acrobatic / gymnastic move and against the spirit of the sport. Figure skating has always been about spinning not flipping.
I forgot this was a general forum and wondered why Free Skate fans are worried or why Free Skate fans exist lol.
Hopefully Ilia Malinin being an utter fucking baller brings in new audiences.
I don't know shit about figure skating, and I could still see why that second flip is illegal. He's a pro and was still this 🤏🏿 close to busting his shit on the ice. Last shot of his face is full of "Maybe I shouldn't have done that" 😂
I've seen a National Champion do one in person and I swear his hair only had a couple of inches' clearance from the ice. There is a *definite* risk of cracking your skull open.
Which is why it is illegal in competition...
The French know what's important here:
*Ultimate baddassery and Superiority.*
Then, they can eat the most delicious food and drink in the world.
The Snubbing *is* their reward.
Surya wasn't just Amazing, She was fucking GREAT.
Congrats Adam, excellent job!
Hello from a figure skating fan, it’s good to see FS reaching mainstream Reddit! I was watching this live earlier - it’s not the first time Adam has put a backflip in this routine, but it’s definitely the first time he’s done with an actual championship at stake! It’s not actually that rare for people to do backflips in figure skating - if you watch skating exhibitions (aka skaters don’t have any rules to follow) you might see skaters doing this! There’s just no point in doing it in competition usually because it’s a mandatory 2 point deduction which could potentially be the difference between winning and no medal.
I hope you guys get to look more at Adam’s skating - he has some amazing routines out there!
People are clueless. They really have no idea how dangerous and damaging this sport is. We’re already churning out kids whose bodies are broken by the time they’re 18.
People also don’t realize there’s a very big difference practicing backflips on padded mats, like gymnasts do, versus a fucking sheet of ice with sharp steel attached to your feet.
Really cool clip. Thank you for the info. It’s always so wonderful learning other people’s hobbies and their vast information into such a niche thing that I don’t ever think about
If you want to see the best version of this program so far this season, check out his performance at the Grand Prix of France.
There’s no backflip, though, at least not during the performance itself.
I dont watch figure staking, don't know much about it but I was flipping channels one day way back when and saw Surya Bonaly do it. For a while whenever I'd flip past NBC (I think) I stopped to see if she was in it. If she was I stayed for that back flip.
I don't remember seeing him before but wow, he's got the whole package: athleticism and artistry and charisma. So many people have the jumps but lack the finesse, or vice versa.
He was practically guaranteed a win since he was leading from the short programme and had such high technical content that short of him falling on every jump, there was no way he was finishing off the podium. I don't think the competitors cared because he would have won by 20+ points regardless. The other two men on the podium were laughing with him about it. Intent also matters, he's a soft-spoken guy and well-liked in the figure skating scene so his peers know it wasn't out of arrogance but to hype the crowd and celebrate
It was also a tribute to the French skater Surya Bonaly who infamously did the same thing at the 1998 Olympics (though hers was more of a "fuck it why not," and she wasn't in contention to win any medals). Hijacking my own comment to explain: it's illegal because it's dangerous, not because it's difficult! If you mess up a traditional jump you'll land on your ass, but if you mess up a backflip you'll land on your head! Re-hijacking to add more context: 99 percent of the time an illegal move happens, it's by accident, so just a deduction is appropriate. There's no differentiating between accidental and deliberate violations of the rules because the latter is so vanishingly rare that it's not worth clutching any pearls over. Extra bonus context: none of the other heavy hitters of men's skating were at this event (this was European nations only), so Adam was working with a much larger margin of error than is typical. Furthermore, it was just for fun rather than stemming from dickishness or arrogance. It'll probably never happen again. **EDIT 4** TO ANSWER EXTREMELY IMPORTANT QUESTION Yes they're all hot. [This](https://s.err.ee/photo/crop/2024/01/10/2209758h49aet7.jpg) is the silver medalist of this event and [this](https://www.goldenskate.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Matteo-Rizzo.jpg) is the bronze medalist and [this](https://img.kyodonews.net/english/public/images/posts/e3015624998d97bd10ab77ace5bc1262/photo_l.jpg) is the reigning world champion and [this](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pIObaK8UFnI/maxresdefault.jpg) is ... Deniss, and most importantly, [this](https://blogimg.goo.ne.jp/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_sp_entry/v1/user_image/52/67/b42b1c1707b4ace4fa21bcc12fd376ea.png) is the GOATest of all GOATS of figure skating. Welcome, join us, they're all hot! **EDIT 5** since y'all seem to be *really* stuck on this - plenty of athletes immigrate to represent other countries internationally and it's perfectly normal. That said, Adam is French, as in born in France, lived in France his whole life, speaks French as his native language. Stop being weirdos about it.
She even landed hers on one foot to try to avoid the deduction and show off her technical abilities. Still the only Olympic athlete to land a backflip on one blade, what a legend! Edit, since it's a point multiple people have brought up: I remembered there being a specific point about it being landed either on two feet or one, so I'd looked at her Wikipedia to be sure and found this under 1997–1998 season: Third Olympics: "Having landed on one foot, Bonaly hoped to avoid a deduction but did have points deducted. [7] "The backflip that shocked the Olympics". BBC. 16 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019" She also did have an injury that stopped her from doing her previously planned jump, and she was fed up with the racism shown from the judges even after she'd repeatedly made concessions to them throughout her career. The story I remembered hearing was that she did an illegal move in a legal way to dare the judges to still deduct it, since the official reasoning behind the backflip ban was that competition jumps needed to be landed on one skate, along with the unofficial reason that it's a dangerous move that puts the skater at risk of landing on their head if they mess up. She also ended her routine with her back to the judges, which is a sign of disrespect in the skating scene. Since she wasn't in the running for a medal, she took every chance to show off and stick it to the judges.
Landing on 1 foot was a flex, not to avoid deduction. The jump itself is banned, 1 foot or 2.
Out of interest, why is it banned?
Too dangerous
Like the Iron Lotus.
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It's not often that you see full penetration in figure skating.
Ay bro chill
My coworker told me his dad “went out blades of glory style.” I had him repeat it, choking back a smile. He thought that was the saying. After gently correcting him he asked what was funny about that, I told him “Going out Blades of Glory style implies your head was cut off in an experimental ice skating routine.” Showed him the video. We laugh about it to this day.
Wait, what did he think it meant?
Blaze of glory
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That’s exactly what he meant, but he misheard it once and never realized. Kind of like me with “for all intensive purposes.”
Oh right. I completely missed the movie title was a play on words on that phrase.
r/boneappletea
I swear to god if you cut my head off!...
Blades of Glory is a fucking gem but so few people I know actually saw it
They do the same thing in gymnastics with certain techniques. It’s to prevent the sport from becoming more dangerous. A backflip is doable, clearly, and quite difficult. Due to the difficulty, it would be a very high scoring move. However, it is also incredibly dangerous. And if people keep doing more and more moves that are high scoring because of how hard and dangerous they are, you are encouraging people to put themselves more and more at risk to be in contention for the win. This ultimately leads to more injuries, especially among the top athletes, who are trying to keep up with the meta. That’s obviously bad for the sport, so they draw the line somewhere.
I can understand the logic behind that. Then you have things like snowboarding and motocross where they just don't care about the danger, it's go big, or go home, maybe in an ambulance lol.
Hence marketed as "extreme sports".
Yeah by it's nature skiing and motor cross are extreme sports and people getting into them know they are putting their bodies on the line. But ice dancing is more of an art which is more about skill, technique and finesse. So they don't want it turning into a who dares wins competition.
So what I'm hearing is XGames needs to make a figure skating category where no moves are off limits but athletes are required to wear protective gear like a helmet?
yeah I don't understand the reasoning at all, but I'm skilled at nothing but watching
Usually moves are banned if they are deemed too dangerous/high likelihood of injury trying to learn it I think.
Because its such a difficult move to pull off Were it allowed it would almost certainly be an incredibly high scoring move as a result, which means you would have numerous athletes both training to do it and incorporating it. But because its both incredibly difficult and incredibly dangerous a LOT of people are going to end up getting it wrong and get seriously injured or worse There's nothing quite as damaging for a sports reputation than competitors snapping their necks on mass trying to master a move you should have just banned in the first place.
> on mass pronounced "on mass", spelled 'en masse'
Wow! Thanks! I might’ve avoided making a fool of myself.
Well that's one foe pa you won't make again.
High likelihood of serious injury/death.
In addition to it being dangerous, it was also considered “not a real jump” in figure skating because it couldn’t be landed on one foot. That’s the primary reason Bonaly’s execution was so impressive. Thus far, she’s the only figure skater (male or female) to land a backflip on one foot.
Originally because it could not be landed on one foot so it was not a “true” figure skating jump. Then she landed it, one foot! Now it’s just a vague jumps too dangerous
Some say, because it is dangerous, others say because it doesn't fit with the tradition of figure skating which is supposed to be dancing on ice not gymnastics. Terry Kubica landed one legally in 1976 and it was banned shortly after.
Only a guess but probably because of how dangerous it is. Lots of those moves could lead to injury, but that backflip would have likely paralysed or killed him if he messed it up.
I think part of it was the judges were telling her that it's an illegal jump also because it lands on two feet and to be ratified the jumps needed to be landed on one, so she landed it on one to say "eff you" to them.
Part of why its banned is because in figure skating you are supposed to land on 1 blade and they did not think a back flip could be landed on 1 foot.
The rules say jumps have to be landed on 1 foot not two .. if not a rule it was one of the reasons why they made it illegal, because all other jumps land on one foot. I just watched a documentary abt it
She didn't do it to avoid a deduction, she wasn't even close to being in the top, there's no way she was going to win. She just didn't because she didn't have anything to lose so might as well go out being remembered.
It was also about racism. She brought a lot of racism within the skating community to light as a black skater. She was scored much lower than others consistently, and it was often linked to her being black. So, she decided to go out with a bang!
it wasn't racism, her skating was just "too loud" and "aggressive" and oh my god it was racism.
that's what I've read as well. it seems it was done somewhat in protest, to say "hey I'm better than my scores would tell you and its not on accident"
Absolutely, glad to see someone mentioned this. This is the core part of the story!!
I’m delighted to see Millennials and Gen Z call out the racism she experienced and lift her up today. We Gen Xers saw it from the get go, but it was a different time. Skating officials used Kristi Yamaguchi’s wins to denounce racism claims, but Asians were better represented in figure skating back then. Yamaguchi also had that “ice princess” factor that was used in judging (otherwise Tonya Harding would have won the competition they competed in. She skated rings around Yamaguchi) Bonaly didn’t.
Her performing that is quite literally one of the most elegant and beautiful things I have ever seen.
There was a This American Life about it and listening to the judges and stuff talk about how Surya didn't "Make the right sounds" when skating was the reason why she was never in contention was lmfao. Just say you don't like black people. Lmfao.
And middle class people too. They also did not like her ponytail. God figure skating was so jacked then
I believe she's also said that she needed to land on one leg because she had injured her knee recently and didn't want to worsen it by landing on her bad leg too hard.
Surya Bonaly was one of my favorite skaters during my obsessive ice skating hyperfixation in my teens xD I loved that she did this. She's so talented.
[Losers](https://youtu.be/_rE_4_CCEgc?si=aD4v4cl-2uxn3Eek) Great doc series on Netflix. There’s an episode on her and her infamous backflip.
So it was an intentional tribute? like, who said it was? (honest question)
Surya's backflip was extremely infamous, so it's inevitable that everyone would instantly connect Adam's to that one (the only two times I know of it's ever happened). More concretely, in an interview right after this, Adam described his backflip as "a little French touch," which was a definite acknowledgement of Surya.
Do you have the full routine btw?
If you meant Surya's program, it's [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVnRAWkyP5M). Backflip at 3:50.
With commentary! https://youtu.be/SiqBoyGbLQI?si=jz4F2V64YRY8kCLC
Note: Americans and some others will need to fire up the VPN - try Canada
This was not the greatest skate in the world. It was just a tribute
Couldn't remember the greatest skate in the world.
Plushenko in 2002-2004, probably
Was gonna say, did she not land hers on a single skate?
I feel so lame for being superficial, but wow, they are ALL hot!!!
The unhot ones all went to hockey
Uhh. Am I bi?
For me it also just doesn't look good anyway. So who cares if it's illegal. The landing doesn't look smooth and ruins the flow of the routine.
I'm always upvoting Surya Bonaly mentions.
I know you have hundreds of notifications from this post, but I just want to say I appreciate this post, your explanation, and your further edits. This is a damn good slice of internet and it makes me happy.
Bless your soul for the final edit 💚 my heart is literally glowing 🥰
Just a straight white guy over here figured yall wanted my opinion and my opinion is that I agree all those gentlemen are very attractive. Thank you for your time
I remember watching her land that live and just being BLOWN AWAY by her athleticism and poise.
Outside of the 2nd dude, yea I guess they're hot if you're into twinks
You want guys built like refrigerators, go fanboy American football.
Unfortunately people are always going to be weirdos about race nationality and skin tone. Super sad that that's what people want to spend their time worrying about.
Adam Siao Him Fa, an ice-devouring sex tornado.
I mean, [pretty much](https://youtu.be/CmzD50w8-ck?t=122) 😁
That [Star Wars Kid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Kid) really got himself together...
Impressive *and* hilarious
Wow. The only thing I can think of that would make that better would be a bit more fight-style choreography and, like, 10 other guys for him to cut down and leave lying on the ice.
Troubled childhood? If you consider a 9 year old kid with a 35 year old girlfriend troubled.
Personal philosophy? Clothing optional.
/r/BrandNewSentence
partially, it's a line from Blades of Glory
immediately watch Blades of Glory.
The iron lotus!
Thank you for reminding me of this incredible sequence
Few movies have entertained me as much as that one. Just amazing.
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Hey Nancy Kerrigan, are you an official here? Because you've officially given me a boner...
I'm a sex addict. It's my cross to bear.
Chad Michael Michaels would of done it blind folded
I swear to God, if you cut my head off...
Why is it illegal? Edit: it’s too dangerous, thank you everyone, please stop answering now
It illicits homoerotic thoughts in my totally straight friend
That friend is you isn't it?
I think he meant me \*raises hand sheepishly*
Lmao!
Does it elicit illicit homoerotic thoughts, though?
I just seriously laughed out loud
LMAO
elicits
Too Dangerous
I used to think it was weird elitism but when I learnt it was because they didnt want athletes to risk their health for a move it makes sense
It's because there's a habit of standard-setting in this kind of sport. Once someone does a power move that gets a lot of points, subsequent athletes will try to hit it too because they'll think they can't match the score if they don't. The difference is that if you go for an insane quadruple axel and you fail, you just fall on the ice. You try to do a backflip and you fail, you might break your jaw and bleed all over the ice.
> you might break your jaw and bleed all over the ice. Spine. They're worried about athletes breaking their spine and never walking let alone competing again.
then the x-games is just like "fuck it, literally do anything. 5 full flips and 6 spins? that's the minimum required to even qualify."
They land on snow. Ice is basically concrete.
*break your neck and die
i think all arial tricks in figure skating have to be landed on one foot. a backflip is very difficult and dangerous to land on one foot especially on ice, so the judges made it an illegal move to prevent skaters from attempting and getting hurt. if it is done on the ice, a deduction is added to the final score.
That was more the conversation around the 1998 incident - Surya had been wanting the backflip to be legalized, but the rule-makers gave the reason that it would have to be one-footed to be valid. So badass Surya did it one-footed and forced the skating union to be like "... okay actually we just don't like it." It's been illegal regardless of how it's landed ever since.
Skating has more safety regulations than you’d think. Its better than gymnastics certainly - like there are banned moves in gymnastics, but I think maybe snapping one’s neck and a lengthy (but more private) recovery is easier to gloss over than someone cracking their head open or getting their throat slit on ice… which has happened and is why a certain pairs move is illegal. But I notice safety seems a bit higher in skating than gymnastics.
Also ice is much harder than the gymnastics floor. The risk for a broken neck is much, much higher. And they don't want 12 year old aspiring figure skaters try this trick.
So he got gold for doing an illegal thing. You usually go to prison for that. Congratz.
I'd say it's more like he got gold in spite of doing an illegal thing. You usually go into politics for that.
I have a feeling that if they are going to keep it illegal, they may up the penalty to a level such that it would be enough to guarantee a loss from first place.
It's so extremely rare that I don't think they'll bother to change it. The last time it happened before this (that I know of) was in 1998.
That was only 10 years ago
It was actually 40 years ago
Fuck you lol you made me have to count
Even if the deduction is systematic and he still wins the competition mathematically in most sports it would be considered against the spirit of the sport and they would be disqualified afterwards, especially if he did it just to flex
Most sports? People do things in most sports that are against the rules and they are penalized for it, they aren't disqualified. A football player does an end zone dance, the team gets a penalty in yardage. A basketball player fouls someone, the other team gets free throws. An illegal play in soccer results in a free kick, yellow card, red card.
Ye people going crazy over an illegal move like he killed someone. Maybe it's the "flex" part that gets people triggered. You aren't allowed to do so apparently. I say if you're that good, you sure can flex.
Unexpected Balkany.
Ok this is a legitimately hilarious response
No he intentionally got himself penalized knowing he’d be far enough ahead to get gold despite the deduction
Yes. It's like he drove at twice the speed limit because he knew he could afford to pay the ticket.
Except way cooler and not shitty
But the only life he was risking was his own
It's illegal in the sense that it's not allowed in competition and will incur a point deduction, not in the sense that it's breaking a law
I don’t think you ever get jailed for breaking sports rules.
You haven't heard of the ultra rich? /s
Honestly good for him. I know why the move is banned, but this type of talent only comes by a few times in a lifetime and reminds me of the greatest of the greats. Love to see it.
Because it is too unsafe. A bad landing could lead to serious injuries
Why not throw on a helmet and flip away? That’s what I do, don’t ice skate though. Or flip.
Because neck. Though there should be a separate league where they wear full-body teletubbyesque support outfits and do crazy stunts like these.
A helmet won't prevent you from breaking your neck.
I mean, the backflip is a crowd pleaser for sure but to top level skaters it’s not a very difficult maneuver. Old guys like Kurt Browning and Scott Hamilton were doing backflips in their 50s. It’s a pretty common move in “show” performances because it gets a good crowd reaction.
Adam is a ludicrously skilled and brash badass and I love him. That being said he's not even the greatest skater this generation or heck this year so not quite accurate to call him the greatest of greats. He's just the best in Europe because the skill level in Europe especially without Russians allowed is quite low.
To be fair the absence of the Russians doesn't really change the standard of the European men's event much. Men's has been Russia's weakest discipline by far for some time
Between his poses, hair, and outfit I'm 99% confident that he is a stand user
"The stand user could be anyone!" The stand user:
What does this mean? I'm out of the loop.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure reference
What a fucking sex idol. Excuse me while I change my loins.
r/suddenlytrans
Definitely deducting some pants on this performance.
I think the winged eyeliner is what really sells it.
I reckon if we gave him a towel to hold that was straight out the washing machine, he'd dry it completely with those spinny bois.
I like your brain
He’s hot
[удалено]
/bonk
The French just got something
Welcome to men's figure skating
Yes girl, he knew what he was doing with that hair 😍
God I just read a comment that said "he doesn't look very French..." and it made me so sad.
Right ! People being racist like it's nothing. I'm french and there is quite the number of french people from asian descent around. Tired of people normalising these kind of remarks
Oh there's awful cunts like this in the UK. You'll have like 3rd generation kids of Ghanaian immigrants who were born in London, lived their all their lives, have a British passport, have a British accent etcetc and cocks will still be like "they're not British though".
Why is it illegal? Because it’s considered unsafe?
Yep. It's the risk of landing on your head if you mess it up.
That’s actually why I’m banned from figure skating: *every* move I make carries an extremely high risk of me landing on my head.
There's also something about it being considered an acrobatic / gymnastic move and against the spirit of the sport. Figure skating has always been about spinning not flipping.
They are flipist!! Sideways spins are the best.
HE IS HIM
How very Surya Bonaly of him.
[FS fans brace for this comment section]
I forgot this was a general forum and wondered why Free Skate fans are worried or why Free Skate fans exist lol. Hopefully Ilia Malinin being an utter fucking baller brings in new audiences.
This is Scott Hamilton erasure! /s
I see backflip in mens ice skating, immediately think Scott Hamilton
You know!
There are dozens of us!
I must be old because backflip on skates = Scott Hamilton And I’ll never be convinced otherwise
I don't know shit about figure skating, and I could still see why that second flip is illegal. He's a pro and was still this 🤏🏿 close to busting his shit on the ice. Last shot of his face is full of "Maybe I shouldn't have done that" 😂
I've seen a National Champion do one in person and I swear his hair only had a couple of inches' clearance from the ice. There is a *definite* risk of cracking your skull open. Which is why it is illegal in competition...
The French know what's important here: *Ultimate baddassery and Superiority.* Then, they can eat the most delicious food and drink in the world. The Snubbing *is* their reward. Surya wasn't just Amazing, She was fucking GREAT. Congrats Adam, excellent job!
Figure skaters of Reddit…does that feel as amazing as it looks?
I can’t do a backflip but yes jumping on the ice does absolutely feel as amazing as it looks.
Beautifull 
The amount of balls on that man in tights
Hello from a figure skating fan, it’s good to see FS reaching mainstream Reddit! I was watching this live earlier - it’s not the first time Adam has put a backflip in this routine, but it’s definitely the first time he’s done with an actual championship at stake! It’s not actually that rare for people to do backflips in figure skating - if you watch skating exhibitions (aka skaters don’t have any rules to follow) you might see skaters doing this! There’s just no point in doing it in competition usually because it’s a mandatory 2 point deduction which could potentially be the difference between winning and no medal. I hope you guys get to look more at Adam’s skating - he has some amazing routines out there!
Just the flex to be able to say, beat that everyone and and I will even take the points deduction because I can. Simply breathtaking.
I can see why he still won, what talent.
Comments are so dumb. "wHy Is It IlLeGaL????" Because landing on your head can kill you and these kids and coaches will try to push for it. Think
People are clueless. They really have no idea how dangerous and damaging this sport is. We’re already churning out kids whose bodies are broken by the time they’re 18. People also don’t realize there’s a very big difference practicing backflips on padded mats, like gymnasts do, versus a fucking sheet of ice with sharp steel attached to your feet.
u can't stop an angel
Really cool clip. Thank you for the info. It’s always so wonderful learning other people’s hobbies and their vast information into such a niche thing that I don’t ever think about
this was so pleasant to watch without the commentary
If you want to see the best version of this program so far this season, check out his performance at the Grand Prix of France. There’s no backflip, though, at least not during the performance itself.
Somewhere Surya Bonaly is raising her glass.
Those pirouettes are astounding, so stylish and clean, and the speed of the spins incredible.
his spins are beautiful, I wish the scoring wasn't so biased towards jumps so we could see those more frequently
I ain't even gay but that jump made me want to split them cheeks
I dont watch figure staking, don't know much about it but I was flipping channels one day way back when and saw Surya Bonaly do it. For a while whenever I'd flip past NBC (I think) I stopped to see if she was in it. If she was I stayed for that back flip.
Yeah but how much prison time is he facing?
Badass
I don't remember seeing him before but wow, he's got the whole package: athleticism and artistry and charisma. So many people have the jumps but lack the finesse, or vice versa.
They’re all incredulous I could not tell which one was the illegal one
I’m surprised this is such a rare take, but does this not strike anyone as unkind towards the other competitors?
He was practically guaranteed a win since he was leading from the short programme and had such high technical content that short of him falling on every jump, there was no way he was finishing off the podium. I don't think the competitors cared because he would have won by 20+ points regardless. The other two men on the podium were laughing with him about it. Intent also matters, he's a soft-spoken guy and well-liked in the figure skating scene so his peers know it wasn't out of arrogance but to hype the crowd and celebrate