Every few years, Olympic figure skating discourse escapes containment and floods the internet.
This year, it’s the backflip.
If you’ve been on social media lately, you’ve probably seen a familiar claim circulating again:
A black, female French skater was “punished,” “singled out,” or “persecuted” for daring to do a backflip at the Olympics while an American white, male skater is now being celebrated for the same move.
It’s a compelling story. It’s also… not quite true.
Let’s clear this up, because the actual history is more interesting than the myth.
