Black Montreal figure skater's unconventional routines earn him millions of views on TikTok, Instagram

After a successful competitive career, Montreal figure skater Elladj Bald vowed to push back against the sport's traditions and explore his own style. The result? Newfound internet fame.

The 30-year-old skater's videos, which show him performing unconventional routines punctuated bybackflips, have garnered over 16 million views on TikTok and 13 million on Instagram.

"I was shocked by how things were being received," Bald saidof his quick rise to internet celebrity.

But to him, the attention just means he's moving in the right direction, trying to modernize and diversify the culture of a sport that remains traditional and "limiting" at the pro level, he said.

"I feel the reason why they're going viral is because ... I'm completely diving into what I want to do and how I want to do it."

WATCH |Bald speaks about authenticity in his skating:

Montreal figure skater Elladj Bald breaks down barriers on the ice

4 years ago

Duration 2:35

Bald took his talent from the rink to the web and gained an audience of 16 million.

'You have to fit within a certain box'

The Russian-born, Montreal-raised athlete started figure skating at age sixand spent years in the Canadian and international competitive circuits.He currently splits his time between Montreal, Toronto and Calgary.

After two unsuccessful Olympic trials and even more concussions, Bald made the decision to retire from competitive skating in May 2018, at 27.

Since then, he's been a choreographer and judge on the live-competition skating series Battle of the Blades, got engagedand co-founded the Figure Skating Diversity and Inclusion Alliance (FSDIA), a non-profit that aims to combat racial inequality in the sport.

The allianceand videos are Bald's way of reclaiming his artistry and authenticity after years of rigid competitive routines, he said.

"Being a Black man in figure skating was a different experience," he said. "It's very much rooted in, you know, a white, European, elitist kind of mentality."

"You have to fit within a certain box and a certain style in order to be successful,"he added.

The FSDIA is already working with Skate Canada to foster more diversity and inclusion in the sport environment.

Financial barriers

Bald said he wants to address the financial barriers that keep Black, Indigenous and other people of colour from participating in sports such asfigure skating, and he wants to help create policy changes to help athletes and coaches of colour report racism and discrimination.

"The culture of figure skating needs to change,"Baldsaid. "We're just really committed to bringing a new perspective to skating."

That perspective shines through in his online routines, where he's been skating to the likes of Rihanna and James Brown on local outdoor rinks and sceniclakes during the pandemic.

And he's not just attracting the attention of his fellow Canadians. American actressJada Pinkett Smith reposted one of his videos on Instagram, where it racked up another nearly 8.5 million plays.

Bald said the viral fame shows him there's room to make figure skating cool again, as well as an appetite for more creative, diverse performances.

"I would love to encourage people to pursue their passion, whatever that is," he said. "And hopefully, the next generation that comes into the sport will no longer have to deal with some of the things that us older generations ... had to experience."

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.