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≡ NATIONAL BACKFLIP DAY! ≡
This is pretty crazy, but also a fun way to raise some money for Team USA, with help from backflip stars Fred Richard – the 2023 World Gymnastics All-Around bronze winner – and Ilia Malinin, the men’s figure skating World Champion, who has already integrated the now-legal backflip into his routines on the ice.
This is all happening pretty fast:
● This Sunday, 21 December, will be National Backflip Day, off of the 12/21 date number mirror and also the Winter Solstice, marking the formal end of Fall.
● Per the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, “On National Backflip Day itself, Richard will be hosting an all day backflip stream live across his @FrederickFlips social media channels from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center starting at 10 a.m. MT.
“Starting today [Thursday], fans can post a backflip video with #NationalBackflipDay and also tag @FrederickFlips for a chance to be featured in the livestream and to contribute to the cause.”
● You don’t have to be a gymnast or figure skater either:
“This video can be of fans doing an actual backflip if they’re able and exercise caution, or even flipping a water bottle (or coin, pancake, etc.) or asking Frederick for advice on how to positively and creatively flip around any kind of situation in life that he may reply to during the stream – be creative and safe.”
And the goal is to raise some money:
“The goal for the day is simple, yet ambitious. The stream will be filled with stunts, appearances and surprises, and for every flip video submitted, a generous United States Olympic & Paralympic Foundation (USOPF) NextGen Council donor will match impact up to 10,000 flips and up to $10,000. This year’s National Backflip Day will generate support for the Team USA Fund.”
Donations to the Foundation are tax-deductible in most circumstances, and Richard and Malinin are already chatting this up on @TeamUSA social sites, with video of their in-person meeting.
Richard has been a backflip champion, setting a world mark in May for the most backflips in a day — he did it with 1,111 in about 15 hours – covered on his social sites and raising $61,665 through his FrederickFlips Foundation for gymnastics equipment for international youth in Africa.
With a very high-pressure, high-profile and therefore serious Olympic Winter Games coming in February, this is a fun program and a way for anyone to participate, even if it’s just flipping a coin in front of your phone!
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