Ilia Malinin wows crowd with historic backflip, helps US win team gold

Ilia Malinin, referred to as the ‘Quad God’, continued to dazzle followers as he as soon as once more displayed his full warrior spirit in his last look on the 2026 Olympic Video games in Milan Cortina.

Malinin pulled off a historic backflip to assist Group USA win gold within the crew occasion. The transfer was banned in 1976, with officers citing security issues. Earlier than Malinin, compatriot Terry Kubicka was the final skater to land it legally on the Video games.

Malinin will compete within the males’s free skate on Friday and is available in because the gold favourite. He may try the primary Olympic quadruple axel.

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Ilia Malinin of the USA competes within the males’s brief determine skating program on the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photograph/Ashley Landis)

Malinin acknowledged that he took a measured method to what’s broadly thought of the game’s most troublesome leap.

“I hope I really feel adequate to do it (Friday),” he informed reporters on Tuesday. “However in fact I all the time prioritize well being and security, so I actually wish to put myself in the fitting mindset in order that I can actually really feel assured going into it and never take a look at that as one thing that I’ll threat.”

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The Worldwide Skating Union (ISU) lifted the ban on somersaults in June 2024, paving the way in which for the backflip to return to skating’s largest stage.

Ilia Malinin performs a trick throughout the males’s brief determine skating program on the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photograph/Ashley Landis)

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“Somersault-like jumps are very spectacular and these days it’s now not logical to think about them as unlawful actions,” stated an agenda of an ISU assembly on the time.

Ilia Malinin within the middle of the ice rink throughout the males’s brief determine skating program on the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, February 10, 2026. (AP Photograph/Christophe Ena)

Though there isn’t a set level worth related to the backflip for skaters, Malinin admitted final season that he enjoys performing the maneuver.

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“It will get applause from the viewers, it feels very thrilling and I actually take pleasure in doing it,” he stated.

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