U.S. figure skater and gold-medal favorite Ilia Malinin stunned fans when he delivered a backflip during the men’s short program of the team competition on Saturday.
The 20-year-old from Virginia came up short of expectations, however, when he scored below 100 points and came in second behind Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama. The score narrowed the gap between the two countries, setting up a nail-biting conclusion Sunday to the team competition.
Malinin became the first Olympian to successfully land the trick in almost 30 years.
The backflip, which was long banned in competition because of its inherent danger, is allowed now, though it also doesn’t carry a whole lot of scoring weight.
The move was first performed back at the 1976 Games by U.S. skater Terry Kubicka. The International Skating Union quickly banned the backflip the following year. That wouldn’t stop Olympians from trying the move.
During the 1998 Winter Olympics, French skater Surya Bonaly performed the trick, impressively landing on one blade. She did receive a deduction for performing the illegal trick.
Amid the rapturous applause for Malinin’s successful backflip, many skating fans were quick to give praise to Bonaly for her impressive moves as well.
“Surya Bonaly originated the backflip in the Winter Olympics and was penalized for it. She should have won the gold medal,” actor Wendall Pierce posted. “The Olympic Committee owes her an apology and a gold medal.”
“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 X user pointed out.
Bonaly is a three-time World silver medalist, five-time European champion and nine-time French national champion. She retired soon after the 1998 Games.
On the first night of men’s figure skating, Team USA’s Ilia Malinin stunned spectators with a backflip on the ice — but didn’t finish in first place.
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