Ilia Malinin lands first legal Olympic backflip in half a century
Ilia Malinin made a landmark Olympic debut on Saturday at the Milan Ice Skating Arena, becoming the first athlete to legally perform a backflip at the Winter Games since the move was reinstated in 2024. The 21-year-old American, a two-time world champion known as the “Quad God,” delivered the long-banned element as part of the team short program, signaling a defining moment for modern figure skating.
Skating before a packed arena in Milan, Malinin drew the loudest reaction of the night when he completed the backflip that had been prohibited for nearly five decades. The International Skating Union lifted the ban in June 2024, opening the door for the skill’s return at the Olympic level. Malinin scored 98.00 points, finishing second in the segment behind Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama, who posted a season-best 108.67. The result helped the United States take a narrow one-point lead heading into the team final.
Malinin opted not to attempt his signature quadruple axel in the short program, choosing instead to manage his effort with an eye on the individual competition. Speaking to Olympics.com afterward, he said he delivered only part of his potential as he assessed the competitive environment and planned adjustments for the days ahead.
The performance reinforced Malinin’s reputation as a generational talent. Olympic champions past and present have described his impact as transformative, noting that his technical achievements are reshaping expectations in the sport. He remains the only skater to have landed a quadruple axel in competition, first achieving the feat in 2022 at age 17. At the Grand Prix Final in Nagoya last December, he set a world record with 238.24 points after becoming the first skater to complete seven quadruple jumps in a single program.
Beyond difficulty, Malinin has emphasized artistic evolution. His Olympic programs blend high-risk jumping with personal storytelling, including the unprecedented use of his own recorded voice in competition. That approach has fueled broader discussion within the International Skating Union about balancing technical value and artistic expression.
Unbeaten since November 2023, Malinin enters the individual event as the favorite. A gold medal would give the United States back-to-back Olympic titles in men’s figure skating for the first time since the victories of Scott Hamilton in 1984 and Brian Boitano in 1988.
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