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Olympic Figure Skating Legend Reveals What Was Stolen From Her Home While She Was With Her Cancer-Stricken Mother

<p id=”par-1_45″>There were so many storylines around <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/Olympics/?swcfpc=1″>Olympic</a> figure skating in the ’90s. The one that drew the most attention worldwide occurred in 1994, when Nancy Kerrigan was attacked. Someone linked to Kerrigan’s rival, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/tonya-harding-reveals-what-i-tonya-got-wrong.html/”>Tonya Harding</a>, struck her on the lower right thigh with a baton. </p>

<p id=”par-2_45″>The attack knocked Kerrigan out of the U.S. Championships, but she was able to compete in the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway and won the silver medal for the United States. Harding competed that year as well before the USFSA banned her from all events. </p>

<p id=”par-3_62″>Another storyline was the nearly flawless free skate from then-16-year-old Oksana Baiul. She beat out Kerrigan for the gold medal. Chen Lu of China won the bronze. Narrowly missing the podium to come in fourth that year was France’s Surya Bonaly. But she returned four years later for <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/tara-lipinskis-husband-todd-kapostasy.html/”>the 1998 Winter Olympics</a> in Nagano, Japan, and gave people something to talk about. </p>

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<p id=”par-4_70″>The day before her free skate, Bonaly pulled a groin muscle. The injury was so severe that she was unable to walk and had to be carried up stairs. However, she knew this was her last Olympic Games ever and decided not to drop out. Because the injury limited what she could do, she realized she had no chance of winning but was determined to do something people would remember.</p>

<p id=”par-5_67″>After falling on a triple jump, she regained her composure and went into a spontaneous backflip. At the time, Bonaly was the only skater in the world capable of successfully landing that on one leg. Today, she remains the only person able to land the flip on one blade. Although the move was illegal and she was penalized, it became an iconic moment in figure skating history. </p>

<p id=”par-6_34″>While Bonaly did not medal at the Olympics, she enjoyed a successful career, winning dozens of other major competitions. She is a three-time World silver medalist, a five-time European Champion, the 1991 World Junior Champion, and a nine-time French National Champion. </p>

<p id=”par-7_21″>However, the medals that she won in all those events are now missing following a break-in at her Las Vegas home.</p>

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<p id=”par-8_61″>Bonaly shared that news via social media on Nov. 8, stating that two people burglarized her house and stole all of her medals. To make matters even sadder, Bonlay was away from her home, caring for her cancer-stricken mother. Bonaly was in Minnesota with her mom, who is battling lung, breast, and sternum cancer. Bonaly is also undergoing treatment for breast cancer herself.</p>

<p id=”par-9_70″>Security camera footage from her home, located about seven miles west of the Las Vegas strip, captured what she described as a “well-organized burglary.” A <a href=”https://www.fox5vegas.com/2025/11/12/olympic-figure-skaters-medals-stolen-las-vegas-burglary/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>local TV station</a> obtained the footage, which shows the individuals shattering Bonaly’s windows. They even cut the WiFi during their calculated break-in. The video showed a figure in a black hoodie next to a woman who appeared to be wearing a delivery vest, breaking into her home.</p>

<p id=”par-10_46″>“I think it’s definitely organized by a company or by some bad people,” Bonaly said. “I feel mad; I feel like sometimes I feel like I want to cry. Some people just feel like it’s better to steal something from someone than to go to work.”</p>

<p id=”par-11_23″>In her Instagram post, she requested that if the public, including pawn shop employees, come across the medals, to contact the police. </p>

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