Ilia Malinin lands first legal Olympic backflip in 50 years

Twenty-one-year-old Ilia Malinin made a historic Olympic debut Saturday at the Milan Ice Skating Arena, delivering on his mission to reshape figure skating while becoming the first athlete to legally perform a backflip at the Winter Games since the move was unbanned in 2024. The two-time world champion, known as the "Quad God," placed second in the team event short program behind Japan's Yuma Kagiyama but helped propel Team USA to a one-point lead heading into the final.olympics+2

Malinin's performance captivated the Milan crowd, drawing the loudest cheers when he executed his signature backflip—a move that had been banned from Olympic competition for nearly five decades until the International Skating Union reversed the rule in June 2024. He scored 98.00 points to Kagiyama's season-best 108.67, opting not to attempt his legendary quadruple axel in the short program.nbcnews+3

"My goal was to pace myself properly. Today was only 50 percent of my potential," Malinin told Olympics.com after his first Olympic skate. "I'm pleased with what I accomplished, and I wanted to get a feel for the competition atmosphere to understand how to adjust for the individual event."olympics

Legends Praise Generational Talent

Olympic champions past and present have heralded Malinin's arrival as a transformative moment for the sport. Brian Boitano, the 1988 gold medalist, declared that Malinin's achievements will "transform the generation, the trajectory, the history, and the future of our sport."sports.yahoo+1

Kristi Yamaguchi, the 1992 Olympic champion, described Malinin as "heads and tails" above the competition, admitting that she and fellow legends including Boitano and Dorothy Hamill "never fathomed seeing a quad axel" in their lifetimes. The gold medal, Yamaguchi said, is "really his to lose."youtube+1

Malinin remains the only skater in history to land the quadruple axel in competition, first achieving the feat in 2022 at age 17. At December's Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, he set a new world record of 238.24 points by becoming the first skater to land seven quadruple jumps in a single program.wikipedia+3

Redefining Artistry and Athleticism

Beyond technical mastery, Malinin has emphasized creative expression as central to his Olympic vision. His short program "The Lost Crown" and self-narrated free skate "A Voice" blend his unmatched jumping ability with personal storytelling—including the unprecedented use of his own recorded voice in a competition program.nbcolympics

"I want to be recognized as someone who really evolved and changed the sport of figure skating, and helped modernize it," Malinin said in a pre-Games interview. His approach has sparked broader discussions within the International Skating Union about rebalancing scoring between technical elements and artistry.reuters+1

Undefeated since November 2023, Malinin enters the individual event Tuesday as the heavy favorite. Should he claim gold, he would give the United States back-to-back men's Olympic titles for the first time since Scott Hamilton in 1984 and Boitano in 1988.cbsnews+3