The Night Figure Skating Changed Forever: Ilia Malinin’s Fearless Backflip Stuns Milan And Seals Team USA’s Olympic Triumph
- At only 21, American standout Ilia Malinin stamped his name into Olympic history by helping Team USA edge past Japan in a dramatic 69–68 team showdown.
- Known worldwide as the ‘Quad God,’ Malinin delivered a staggering 200.03-point free skate, unleashing five quadruple jumps and unveiling the first one-foot backflip ever performed legally at the Olympic Games.
- Watching from the Milan crowd, tennis icon Novak Djokovic was visibly stunned, grabbing his head in disbelief as Malinin cleanly landed the move that had been forbidden for nearly five decades.
- The unforgettable scene followed the International Skating Union’s 2024 rule change that lifted the long-standing backflip ban, finally honoring the legacy of 1998 pioneer Surya Bonaly.
The Milano Ice Skating Arena didn’t merely host an Olympic event on Sunday night — it became the backdrop for something extraordinary.
With an energy so intense it felt closer to a live concert than a sporting contest, Ilia Malinin demonstrated exactly why he has emerged as one of the defining figures of the Milan Cortina 2026 Games. Under the gaze of the entire world — and one legendary tennis champion in particular — the 21-year-old rose to the moment with a performance that felt almost unreal.
As the music swelled through the arena, the ‘Quad God’ launched into a daring backflip, landing flawlessly on a single blade. For a brief heartbeat, everything seemed to freeze before the 12,000 fans inside the building erupted in a deafening roar that shook the stands.
THE ‘JOKER’S’ REACTION
- THE ICON: Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic, seated next to his wife Jelena, sprang to his feet with his hands on his head, stunned by what he had just seen.
- THE TRIBUTE: Malinin later said the moment left him speechless, describing it as once-in-a-lifetime to feel that level of appreciation from an athlete of Djokovic’s stature.
- THE SCORE: His towering 200.03 narrowly topped Japan’s Shun Sato (194.86), providing the decisive edge that secured the one-point victory for the United States.
Ilia Malinin’s historic skate to the music from Succession
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u/shiftshinee in
olympics
This moment was about far more than a single element. By landing the backflip within the rules, Malinin symbolically closed a controversial chapter that had hovered over the sport for nearly 50 years — a chapter long associated with Surya Bonaly, who was harshly penalized for performing the move at the 1998 Nagano Games.
With the ISU’s 2024 ruling finally allowing the element, the so-called ‘Bonaly Flip’ now stands as a shining marker of a more open and expressive future for figure skating.
“It was fun,” Malinin said afterward, his gold medal catching the light inside the arena. “The crowd just exploded… they were completely out of control. That energy really helped me feel the magnitude of the Olympic stage.”
Despite the enormous pressure, Malinin spoke with striking humility, reflecting on how quickly things can change in sport. “I try to enjoy every moment and stay grateful,” he said. “There are so many unexpected things that can happen in life. I take it all to heart.”
With Team USA successfully defending its Olympic crown from Beijing, attention now shifts to the individual competition, where Malinin is widely seen as the favorite. If this performance proved anything, it’s that the ‘Quad God’ is only beginning to write his Olympic story.
