Surya Bonaly, the French figure skating legend and five-time European champion, has reported a burglary at her Las Vegas residence.
The 51-year-old, who currently works as a coach in the area, took to Instagram to announce that her stolen items included her valuable collection of world and European championship medals. Bonaly is urging residents and pawn shops to notify law enforcement immediately if they encounter foreign gold and silver medals being offered for sale, according to Cleveland.com.
Bonaly wrote in an Instagram post that featured photos from her competitive career, “You see, all those medals that I won in the past while competing in different worlds and European championships are sadly gone. Several days ago someone, I mean a couple burglarized my home and stole all my valuable.”
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The New York Post reported that the burglary at Bonaly’s home, located approximately seven miles west of the Las Vegas Strip, was well-organized, according to security camera footage. The calculated break-in, as documented by footage obtained by Fox 5 Vegas, involved multiple individuals arriving on different days to carry out the theft.
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They were seen shattering windows, disabling security cameras, and cutting the WiFi. The video specifically showed one person in a black hoodie next to a woman who appeared to be wearing a delivery vest as they broke into the residence.
“I think it’s definitely organized by a company or by some bad people,” Bonaly told the outlet.
The burglary occurred while Bonaly was away in Minnesota, providing care for her mother, who is fighting lung, breast, and sternum cancer.
Upon returning to her Las Vegas home three days after the break-in, Olympic figure skating legend Bonaly, who is also undergoing treatment for breast cancer, discovered her house had been completely ransacked. The most devastating loss was the theft of all the medals she had earned throughout her career, which spanned from 1989 to 1995.
“European champion or world champion, junior, everything — any medals that I had with my skating,” Bonaly said.
The stolen medals represented crucial achievements from international competitions throughout Bonaly’s career, according to the figure skating star, who holds five European and nine French national titles.
“I was there when the president of my French country gave me that as a present. So it’s a big honor,” Bonaly shared.
Bonaly told Fox 5 Vegas that she later discovered a vest, similar to the one worn by the woman during the break-in, abandoned on a street one block away from her residence. Losing her hard-earned medals has left the champion skater feeling a mix of anger and heartbreak.
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“Well, just — I feel mad. I feel like sometimes I feel like I want to cry,” she said. “Some people just feel like it’s better to steal something from someone than to go to work.”
Despite the heartbreak of having her prized possessions stolen, Bonaly intends to remain in her neighborhood, which she still loves. However, she plans to enhance her home’s security by installing additional cameras.
“I’m hoping that I can find maybe some medals. I’m hoping, and I pray really that no [one’s] gonna melt that medal,” she said.
The burglary is currently under investigation by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Bonaly, an Olympic figure skating legend known for pushing boundaries in the 1990s, gained international recognition with her acrobatic skills, including the controversial use of illegal backflips.
READ ALSO: Surya Bonaly: The only black female who did a historic backflip landing on one foot
