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Even Novak Djokovic was amazed in the VIP box, having brought his life partner, Jelena Ristic, to the Olympic event. The star couple from the tennis world couldn’t believe what the American figure skater had performed, nor the energy he transmitted to the audience. Malinin’s backflip on skates looked so natural.
And in fact, it’s not a new move at all.
The figure skating council only recently re-legalised it.
Czech Name Behind the First Backflip
In two days, it will be 50 years since the backflip first appeared at the Olympic Games. A modest, twenty-year-old Terry Kubicka performed it.
"There actually wasn’t any rule forbidding it. But after it was all over, the discussions were about how the judges didn’t even score it, because they didn’t know what to do with it," Kubicka recalled for Skate magazine about the move that truly made an impression on February 11, 1976.
Despite being an exceptional jumper, he ended up without a medal, finishing only seventh. At the time, medals went to skaters with a more polished style. He was seen as an oddball. "I once overheard a competitor say I was trying to turn skating into a circus. Yet he himself was very innovative and stood out with his own skating style," Kubicka remembered his rivalry with Toller Cranston.
The showman, whose name hints at Czech roots, was truly the first…
But after his jump in Innsbruck, a ban was imposed. "They said it was dangerous. But if you train such a jump well, it’s not much more dangerous than those performed by pairs," Kubicka knew.
Since then, backflips have only been seen in exhibitions or popular ice shows. Those competing for medals were forbidden from performing jumps with rotation around the horizontal axis. Still, the backflip did make an appearance at the Olympic festival under the five rings.
Revolt in Nagano
While Czechs remember Nagano for the golden hockey dream, figure skating fans recall the courage of French icon Surya Bonaly. When she took to the ice in Nagano, she was coming off a year-long break.
After an exceptional period, winning European championships and finishing just shy of gold three times at Worlds, she tore her Achilles tendon. The world title eluded her. "Maybe if I were white, I would have won the title long ago, but who knows? Being a person of colour was unusual back then," she wrote in her biography.
Surya Bonaly headed to Japan for her last Olympics.
And it caused quite a stir. In her free skate, accompanied by a violin solo from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, she executed a backflip landing on one skate! Exactly as figure skating rules required. Until then, everyone had landed the backflip on both feet, which is why it was rejected. The former gymnast proved it could be done.
"At first, I was almost ashamed. Maybe they’ll hate me forever," she thought. The judges didn’t reward her either. Instead, she was penalised for the forbidden move.
But it was also an act of rebellion. Bonaly had long struggled with being overlooked, believing she regularly received lower scores than her white competitors, the ice princesses. The backflip in Nagano by a Black figure skater became a symbol of defiance, just like her turning her back to the judges during their scoring.
"But I’m not really a rebel. Maybe I appreciate it more now than I did then, and I’m proud of myself. I simply did it. I think I was a pioneer," she said.
Her final tenth place didn’t matter much, perhaps only highlighting her relationship with the International Skating Federation. But her performance captivated fans more than the gold won by the now-forgotten blonde Tara Lipinski.
Nearly three decades have passed since Bonaly’s performance. And since November 2024, the backflip landing on one skate is once again a permitted jump.
Points Only for Artistic Impression?
But there’s still a catch. The jump doesn’t have a point value and isn’t a required element. However, it can be included as part of the choreography in the free skate program.
And Ilja Malinin knew this. Since figure skating disciplines are scored in two categories, he may have earned more points for artistic impression in Sunday’s team final than his Japanese rival Shun Sato.
"It was fun," he said. "The audience was really screaming and totally out of control. I felt their gratitude," he admitted.
But the tougher challenges still await Malinin. Thanks to his ability to land a quadruple Axel, he’s considered a favourite for the individual event. After the short program, however, he trails another Japanese competitor, Yuma Kagiyama.
No matter how the figure skating events at the Milan Olympics end, it’s clear that backflips will have their place. The appeal of the competitions and the battle for audience attention are increasingly discussed. And the crowd always reacts differently to a backflip…
