Originally published on 2/9/26

The 2026 Winter Olympics are officially underway, and while several athletes are going viral, none of them are being discussed as much as Ilia Malinin. Not only is the 21-year-old American figure skater extremely talented, but in his men’s short program he became the first skater to do a legal backflip on the Olympic ice following a 47-year ban on the move. To learn more about Malinin and how he got his “Quad God” nickname, as well as his historic flip and how it factored into Malinin’s final score, keep scrolling! 

Who is Ilia Malinin?

Born in 2004, in Fairfax, Virginia, Malinin started skating at age 6, receiving support and encouragement from his parents, Roman Skorniakov and Tatiana Malinina—two former figure-skating legends. 

Prior to joining the 2026 Olympic team, Malinin was a two-time World champion (2024 and 2025), a three-time Grand Prix Final champion (2023, 2024 and 2025), a seven-time Grand Prix gold medalist, a four-time Challenger Series gold medalist and a four-time U.S. national champion (2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026).

Milano Cortina 2026 is his first Olympic Games and before the ceremony even started, sports fans fell in love with him. And Malinin gave himself the nickname “The Quad God,” after becoming the first-ever skater to land a Quadruple Axel (a move in which the skater jumps in the air and turns four-and-a-half times) in a competition back in 2022. 

“I was like, ‘Oh, I landed a quad? Quad God, there it is,’” Malinin told CBS News of the nickname. “And from there everyone’s like, ‘Why’d you name yourself Quad God? You only have one quad.” And I’m like, ‘Well, now that I think about it, maybe I should try to land all of them to get the Quad God status.’” And last December, he executed a whopping 7 quad jumps in one performance.

Then he moved onto the backflip.

The history of backflips in figure skating 

Figure skating was invented in the mid 18th century. Originally, it was more of a recreation sport, but in 1908 figure skating was added to the Summer Games in London, making it the first winter sport to appear at the Olympics. Then, in 1924, the Winter Olympics were born, and figure skating became one its most famous events, thanks in part to skaters’ grace, poise, tricks and costumes.

The backflip, however, didn’t appear in the Games until 1976, when American Terry Kubicka became the first skater to attempt it on the ice. Following his flip, the International Skating Union (ISU) banned the move, saying it was too dangerous.

“Most of the highest (difficulty) jumps were basically triples at that time in ’76, and I was kind of doing all the triples,” Kubicka told NBC Sports of his flip. “So my coach [Evy Scotvold] was trying to look beyond, to continue the athleticism of the sport.”

“As far as the judges, I never spoke to any of them personally, but I don’t think it really influenced our marks, either pro or con,” he continued. “I don’t know if they really knew how to judge it or approach it. I know the controversy at the time was: it’s head over heels, it’s landed on two feet. There were all kinds of things they were trying to come up with.” 

That ban didn’t stop French skater Surya Bonaly from attempting it at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games. Many argued that since Bonaly landed on one foot instead of two—a move that’s even more difficult than a standard backflip—she didn’t break the ban. The judges disagreed, and Bonaly received several point deductions. 

Also receiving point deductions for flipping on the ice was France skater Adam Siao Him Fa, who attempted the trick in October of 2023 at an exhibition show. He did it twice more the following year, telling NBC Sports that he views the trick as a way for skaters to push the sport’s boundaries. 

“I want to push the sport, and I want to give the opportunity for myself and also for the future skaters to express freely what they want to do,” Siao Him Fa said. “By starting doing that [backflip], it’s doing a step for pushing the sport.”

Finally, in 2024, ISU lifted the backflip ban, and in September of that year Malinin became the first person to do a legal flip at a lower-level skating event. He then did it again at Skate America in 2024 and continued to practice it until he finally debuted it at the 2026 Winter Games. 

“Doing it at [noncompetitive] shows and at my first competition, the crowd really went wild over [the backflip], ” Malinin told NBC Sports. “So I think it does add another kind of big, I guess, surprise to the program. It almost gives the same energy as if I were to do a quad jump.”

A look at Ilia Malinin’s legendary 2026 Olympic backflip

On Sunday, February 9, Malinin landed a one-footed backflip during the team event, earning him a gold medal and a place in figure skating history. 

“Just going in today, I was just so grateful to be a part of this team and knowing that they all were going to support me throughout this program no matter what really gave me the confidence to really just calm down and really just get into that flow state,” Malinin told NBC Sports. “Without them, I don’t think I would’ve been able to accomplish this.”

Link to original: https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/celebrities/ilia-malinin-banned-move-first-legal-olympic-backflip-photos