US EditionIlia Malinin Landed First Legal Backflip on the Olympic Ice in 48 Years. These Athletes Did It First
Malinin scored 108.16 points without his signature quadruple axel and performed the first legal Olympic backflip after its ban was lifted in 2024.
- Ilia Malinin, U.S. figure skater, finished his short program with a backflip and scored 108.16 during this week, helping the U.S. team win Olympic gold.
- The International Skating Union had banned the move since the late 1970s after Terry Kubicka, skater, performed it at the 1976 Olympics, and the ban was lifted in 2024; Surya Bonaly, French skater, was penalized in 1998 for executing a backflip.
- Malinin is the child of two Olympic skaters, Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, and he first skated at six years old, remaining the only skater to land the quad axel, which requires four and half rotations.
- Observers wondered if Malinin was saving his signature quad axel for the men's free skate on Friday, and some suggested he might add more backflips later, calling the strategy sound.
- Surya Bonaly welcomed the Olympic appearance of the move, saying `I broke ice for other skaters`, while observers noted she was punished years ago for the same element.
22 Articles
22 Articles
How Ilia Malinin Revolutionized Figure Skating with His Quadruple Axel
On Friday, the US Olympic skater known as the “Quad God” will compete in his last event of the 2026 Winter Games. Everyone will be watching to see if he does his famous quad axel—and a backflip, too.
Forbidden since 1976 and reauthorised in 2024, the backflip made its great return to the Winter Games in Milan Cortina, under the leadership of the Frenchman Adam Siao Him Fa and the American Ilia Malinin. They should both realize this rebel figure during their free program.
MILAN. His spectacular backflips may be what the crowd cheers the most at the Milan Ice Skating Arena. But the move is neither original nor particularly difficult for superstar Ilia Malinin. “It’s probably the easiest thing he does,” says Swedish figure skater Andreas Nordebäck.
Ilia Malinin revolutionizes these Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina with that pyroea backwards that everyone already expects in her performances with more desire than her seven quadruples. These are more difficult to execute, but what doubt it is that this 'backflip' reveals more spectacularity. And the American is exploiting it for the good of this sport, because it gains followers every time it sweeps the air until it lands. For the moment it has…
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