French figure skater Adam Xiao Him Fa became the winner of the European Championships, held in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas, for the second time. He did it quite spectacularly: at the end of his free program, he performed a forbidden element — a backflip.
The reigning champion of the tournament performed a somersault in his free program, for which he received 182.04 points. Based on the results of two programs, he scored 276.17 points.
The Frenchman had previously performed a somersault in October at the Shanghai Trophy tournament in China. Then he was deducted two points as a fine, but this did not stop the skater from winning.
Adam Xiao Him Fa has already turned the somersault into his trick. During his performance at the Grand Prix in France, he performed a stunt while leaving the ice. That time he managed to avoid a fine. In Kaunas, the Frenchman was punished for doing a somersault in the same way as in China, and he knew that he was depriving himself of points, but he still decided to do this performance.
“Of course, the free program requires more energy than the exhibition program, but I felt good, I had the strength to do it, and I wanted to perform it in front of the crowd. I did this to promote our sport. It’s less dangerous than it seems“Adam commented on his trick to Golden Skate.
The only athlete in the history of figure skating who performed a somersault legally is American Terry Kubicka. Despite the fact that he did not win significant titles, his performances were unforgettable for spectators and judges.
In 1976, he performed a somersault at three tournaments in a row (US Championships, Olympics, World Championships), after which the International Skating Union urgently banned this element, justifying its decision as a health hazard.
Jumping around a horizontal axis is prohibited by the rules of figure skating. However, there have been recorded cases of their execution in competitions.
In one of the most famous cases, French figure skater and five-time European champion Suriya Bonaly performed a somersault in her free skate at the 1998 Olympics.
Many viewed this act as an act of protest against the judging, as a result of which the figure skater took only 10th place at her last Olympics.
“When you’re black, you have to be head and shoulders above any white opponent. And I was not just a black skater, but also a black woman. If a man did something like that, everyone would say: “He acted like a real man.”
I went down in history as an athlete who, having lost her head, took an unreasonable risk. I hope that someday my action will be appreciated as a contribution to the development of figure skating“,” the Frenchwoman explained her action.
The ban on somersaults in figure skating has not been lifted to this day.