The Milano Ice Skating Arena erupted. Thousands of spectators rose to their feet, their cheers drowning out the music still echoing through the venue. On the ice below, 21-year-old American figure skater Ilia Malinin stuck out his tongue, breathing heavily, knowing exactly what he’d just accomplished. He had just become the first person in half a century to legally perform a backflip at the Winter Olympics—a move so controversial that officials banned it in 1977, deeming it too dangerous for competitive skating.
The Move That Time Forgot
On February 7, 2026, during the men’s short program of the team event at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, Malinin made skating history. As part of his Olympic debut, the two-time world champion incorporated a full backflip into his routine—a spectacular aerial maneuver where the skater launches backward off the ice, rotates completely upside down with their head facing the frozen surface, and lands back on their skates.
The crowd’s reaction was instantaneous and overwhelming. “It was fun,” Malinin said afterward, still catching his breath. “I mean, come on, the audience just roared and they were just out of control. Really that just helped me feel the gratitude of the Olympic stage.”
But what made this moment so electrifying wasn’t just the athletic prowess required to execute such a dangerous move—it was the weight of nearly five decades of Olympic history behind it.
A 50-Year Journey From Glory to Ban to Redemption
The backflip’s Olympic story begins at the 1976 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria. American skater Terry Kubicka became the first—and for decades, the only—person to legally perform the move in Olympic competition. Though he finished seventh overall, Kubicka etched his name in figure skating lore.
But his pioneering achievement came at a cost. The International Skating Union, the governing body of figure skating worldwide, moved swiftly to prohibit the move. In 1977, just one year after Kubicka’s performance, the ISU officially banned backflips from competitive skating. Their reasoning was twofold: the move was considered excessively dangerous, particularly due to the risk of head-first falls onto the ice that could result in paralysis, and it violated one of figure skating’s fundamental principles—that all jumps must be landed on one skate blade.
The ban would stand for 47 years, but it wouldn’t stop every skater from attempting it.
The Rebel Who Defied the Rules
Twenty-two years after the ban, at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, French figure skater Surya Bonaly wrote her own chapter in backflip history. Dealing with an Achilles injury and knowing she wasn’t a serious medal contender, Bonaly made a statement. During her free skate program, she executed a breathtaking backflip—landing it on a single blade, a feat even more difficult than the standard two-footed landing.
The judges penalized her immediately. Olympic commentator and former gold medalist Scott Hamilton called it out in real-time: “She’s doing it to get the crowd. She’s going to get nailed.”
And she did. But Bonaly didn’t care. The moment became iconic—not just as an athletic achievement, but as a powerful statement from a Black athlete in one of the world’s historically whitest sports. The Washington Post later described it as “a cultural touchstone,” noting that “Bonaly was making a statement not only as an accomplished skater, but also as a Black athlete.”
Bonaly never regretted it. She went on to perform the backflip over 1,000 times in ice shows throughout her career, with her final performance at age 40 in São Paulo, Brazil. “I loved that she did the backflip in her last performance before retiring as a big FU to the establishment,” one figure skating fan later reflected.
The Ban Lifts
For the next quarter-century, the backflip remained a forbidden element—thrilling crowds at exhibition shows but strictly prohibited from competitive events. Skaters continued to push boundaries anyway.
In 2024, French skater Adam Siao Him Fa performed backflips at both the European Championships and World Championships, fully aware he would receive point deductions. His bold defiance, along with growing fan interest and evolving safety standards, sparked conversations at the highest levels of figure skating governance.
In June 2024, the ISU convened for its congress in Las Vegas. Buried on page 101 of their 106-page agenda was a proposal that would change everything. The document showed “somersault type jumps” crossed out from the list of banned elements, with a simple explanation: “Reason: somersault type jumps are very spectacular and nowadays it is not logical anymore to include them as illegal movements.”
The proposal passed. After 47 years, the backflip was legal again.
However, there was a catch. While skaters would no longer be penalized for performing backflips, the move wasn’t assigned any point value. It couldn’t directly boost a skater’s technical score, though it could enhance the overall artistic and choreographic impression of a program.
Enter the “Quad God”
If anyone was going to seize this historic opportunity, it was Ilia Malinin. The Virginia native had already established himself as figure skating’s most daring innovator. Nicknamed the “Quad God,” he became the first and only skater ever to successfully land a quadruple Axel in competition—a jump requiring 4.5 rotations in the air. At just 21 years old, he had already captured back-to-back world championships.
Malinin had been preparing for this moment. With a background in gymnastics spanning much of his life, he had the aerial awareness needed to execute the backflip safely. He debuted the move competitively at the 2024 Lombardia Trophy in Italy, where the crowd response told him everything he needed to know.
“Doing it at shows and at my first competition, the crowd really went wild over it,” Malinin explained. “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.”
By the time the Milan Cortina Olympics arrived, Malinin had refined the move to perfection. And on February 7, 2026, in front of a global television audience, he made his mark.
The Performance
As Malinin’s music filled the arena, he skated with the confidence of a champion. His program included his signature quadruple jumps, intricate footwork, and flawless spins. But everyone in attendance—and millions watching worldwide—knew what was coming.
Then it happened. Malinin approached the backflip with backward momentum, threw his arms upward to generate power, kicked his right leg back, and launched into the air. For a split second, he was completely inverted, his head mere inches from the ice surface below. Then, with the precision of someone who had performed the move hundreds of times, he completed the rotation and landed cleanly.
The arena exploded.
“I try to enjoy every single moment and be grateful for everything, because there are a lot of unexpected things that can happen in life,” Malinin said afterward. “I’m taking everything to heart.”
Despite the historic achievement and the crowd’s ecstatic response, Malinin finished the short program in second place with 98.00 points, behind Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama who scored 108.67. The result meant Team USA remained competitive in the team event standings, but the story of the night wasn’t about the scoreboard—it was about the history that had just been made.
Legacy and Looking Forward
Malinin’s backflip performance instantly became one of the defining moments of the 2026 Winter Olympics. Social media erupted with reactions, many paying tribute not just to Malinin but to the pioneers who came before him—especially Surya Bonaly.
“Surya Bonaly originated the backflip in the Winter Olympics and was penalized for it. She should have won the gold medal,” actor Wendell Pierce posted. “The Olympic Committee owes her an apology and a gold medal.”
Figure skating fans were quick to celebrate both athletes. “Judges used to underscore her and I loved that she did the backflip in her last performance before retiring as a big FU to the establishment,” one commenter wrote about Bonaly.
For her part, Bonaly expressed satisfaction with the rule change. “Now it feels more like free skating,” she said. “We felt like it was always that movement of being stopped and not able to do what we want. I guess now there is more freedom on ice. You can do more what you want and express yourself in many ways, and I think it’s great.”
Terry Kubicka, the 70-year-old veterinarian who started it all back in 1976, was also following the developments closely. He served as an official on the technical panel at the 2024 World Championships when Adam Siao Him Fa performed an illegal backflip. “It was our responsibility as a technical panel to call it illegal and make a deduction,” Kubicka explained at the time, months before the ban would be lifted.
Now, 50 years after his own Olympic backflip, Kubicka’s pioneering move has come full circle—reclaimed by a new generation and celebrated on the world’s biggest stage.
The Future of Figure Skating’s Most Controversial Move
While the backflip is now legal, it remains to be seen how many elite skaters will incorporate it into their competitive programs. The move carries inherent risks—amateur skaters have suffered serious injuries, including paralysis, when backflips go wrong. Training typically requires safety equipment like harnesses, helmets, and support ropes.
Additionally, without assigned point value, the backflip offers limited strategic advantage. It can enhance artistic scores and energize a performance, but it won’t directly boost technical marks the way a quadruple jump would.
Still, for skaters like Malinin who possess both the athletic ability and the showmanship to pull it off, the backflip represents something more valuable than points: it’s a chance to create unforgettable moments and connect with audiences in ways that pure technical skating sometimes cannot.
“I think it’s really something that’s really bringing back the popularity of the sport, because the backflip is something that I’m sure a lot of people know the basics of what it really is,” Malinin observed. “So I think just having that really just can bring in the non-figure skating crowd as well.”
As the 2026 Olympics continue, Malinin remains a favorite to capture individual gold medals in the men’s single skating events. But regardless of what medals he ultimately wins, his name is now forever linked with one of Olympic skating’s most dramatic and historic moments—the day a forbidden move from 1976 finally received its redemption, 50 years later, on the ice in Milan.
The backflip’s journey from pioneering achievement to banned danger to celebrated spectacle tells a larger story about how sports evolve, how rules change, and how sometimes the most memorable moments come not from following convention, but from having the courage—like Kubicka, Bonaly, and now Malinin—to flip the script entirely.