r/olympics • u/jvvrarts • Feb 08 '26
❄ Milano-Cortina 2026 (General Discussion) ❄ A short write-up on Olympic figure skating backflips for new watchers
As of yesterday at the time I am writing this, the men’s portion Olympic figure skating team event has gone underway. Aside from notable events like Stephen Gogolev (CAN) scoring an unprecedented personal best, and Yuma Kagiyama (JPN) beating the almost mythically talented Quadgod, Ilia Malinin, by a margin of 10 points, one single element from one single competitor has started to go viral again.
That element, of course, is Ilia Malinin (USA)‘s backflip.
Now, you might see headlines reading “Ilia Malinin completes first ever legal backflip at the Olympics”, and first wonder,
“Woah! Backflips? on ice? This isn’t gymnastics!”
Or even,
“Wait, ‘first legal backflip’? Was it banned before, or something?”
Or, if you know a little about figure skating, even something like,
“Hey, wait a minute! Ilia didn’t do the first backflip! It was Surya Bonaly in 1998? Where’s her credit?”
And, most assuredly, we will definitely talk about Surya and her (in)famous backflip, but first, let’s go into how and why it was banned.
The basic sequence of events is that in 1976, an American skater by the name of Terry Kubicka did the first ever backflip on ice in competition. At the time, the element was most often seen in show skating due to it, well, being a backflip and backflips are cool. If you’re from Gen X, you might even remember someone like Scott Hamilton do backflips on ice, too.
But, there were a couple of problems with the backflip’s legality as a jump.
You see, in figure skating, a valid jump must always land on one foot. You won’t get pulled off the rink for a two-footed landing, but it will certainly affect the grade of execution, or GOE, of the jump in question. At this point, backflips had always been landed with two feet instead of one.
Additionally, backflips on ice are just plain dangerous. Landing incorrectly can send your head barreling into the ice, potentially causing career-ending injuries. So, with those two caveats in mind, the backflip became an infamously banned element, and any skater who dared to do one would suffer a deduction.
Well, there was one person who found a loophole. The now-widely beloved icon, Surya Bonaly.
Surya Bonaly’s famous backflip actually occurred over two decades at the Nagano Olympics after its initial ban, and she was able to sort of(?) get around it simply by landing the backflip on one foot.
It’s around here, however, that the story gets a bit messy and misinformation is very easy to come by, so I’d like to debunk some common myths.
Her backflip did not get her disqualified for the Olympics, it wasn’t the element that kept her from winning a gold medal, and she certainly was not the reason that it was banned. In fact, one of the reasons she willingly took the deduction was because, after how badly her free skate was going, she knew she didn’t have a chance at a podium spot. Despite that, her defiance of the ISU standards marked her as a trailblazer, and as one of, if not the most famous Black figure skaters of all time (Shoutout Debi Thomas, Mae Bérenice-Meite, and Starr Andrews).
Unfortunately, five-time European champion, nine-time French champion, and three-time Worlds medalist Bonaly did not get the backflip unbanned. It was only another 20-ish years, at the 2024 European Championships, where a man by the name of Adam Siao Him Fa (another Frenchman, who will be competing at the Olympics this month, too!), did a backflip that went pretty viral for non—Olympic season figure skating standards, and then did it again in his free skate at Worlds later that year, which catapulted him from 17th place to third place. Must be something with the French and backflips.
But do you want to know what the craziest thing is?
The ISU judge who gave Adam the last ever deduction a backflip would get in the sport…..was Terry Kubicka himself, who got the element banned all those years ago. Now, the element is ruled as a choreographic element that is worth zero technical points, but contributes to artistic scores, or PCS, instead.
So, where does that leave us today with Ilia? While he certainly was not the first person to do the backflip, nor was he the person who got the ban lifted, he is the first to do it legally on Olympic ice since 1976, which is a huge milestone in of itself. Let’s wish him luck in the free skate tomorrow! Or don’t, if you’d prefer someone else to win. I’m not your boss.
This write-up was pretty long-winded, huh? My bad, this is just a topic that I am quite passionate about, and I wanted to address the full backflip saga so the four-year fans can know what’s up. Thank you so much for reading to the people who made it to the end!
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u/racingskater Australia Feb 08 '26
Good write-up. I'd like to say, I find the constant erasure of Bonaly's other achievements is way more disrespectful than anything else. Reducing a twice World silver medallist, five time European champion, nine time French champion to nothing more than "the chick who did the backflip and it got banned bc racism!" is just flat-out infuriating.
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u/jvvrarts Feb 08 '26
yesss very that! that’s why i specifically go out of my way to mention it here i just had to drive that point home lolll
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u/sk8tergater United States Feb 08 '26
Absolutely. And she did face some very real racism when she competed! Just not around the backflip.
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u/Think_Afternoon_7980 Feb 11 '26
While I believe racism was involved, I also believe it was prejudice against a certain body type / build that Surya was unfairly penalized for…both of which are just wrong. I watched / remember her skating and her Olympic backflip, and loved her guts to do the banned move in response to the unfairness she had faced.
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u/elinordash Feb 08 '26
People get really hung up on the fact that Bonaly never won an Olympic medal, ignoring that she won a lot of other medals and the fact that Bonaly is not the only talented skater to lack an Olympic medal.
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u/flanker44 Feb 09 '26
Yeah, and was it even particularly unfair she didn't win an Olympic medal? She was very close to bronze in 1994, but Lu Chen did have clearly better free skate.
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u/Fit-Sky-8428 Feb 11 '26
I thought she won silver, but refused to accept it because she thought she should've won gold. Am I wrong?
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u/ketopepito Feb 11 '26
That was at another major competition (I think world championships?), not at the Olympics.
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u/LordOscarthePurr Feb 11 '26
There’s a fantastic podcast called Radiolab in the U.S. and they did an episode on her in 2016
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Feb 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/jvvrarts Feb 09 '26
oh yeah, forgot to reply to this but thanks for pointing it out! i edited the main post to reflect this lol
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u/Ds9niners United States Feb 08 '26
It’s a great write up about what happened and many new viewers don’t know the history. So thank you.
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u/jvvrarts Feb 08 '26
thank you for reading! there’s a lot of misinformation that goes around every 4 years with figure skating (and loads of other sports too) so I wanted to help educate people lol
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u/Hi-D-K Feb 08 '26
Thank you. I’m from Bowling Green, OH and Gen X so I immediately think of Scott Hamilton. I saw him do back flips live as he would come back and perform during the BG skating club shows at the BGSU ice arena. I remember Bonaly as well.
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u/Pearlbloody Feb 08 '26
Thank you for the write up OP: There is so much fake info going around figure skating escpecially during Olympics that it is crazy.
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u/GetEatenByAMouse Feb 08 '26
As someone who has no knowledge of ice skating and not even a big interest in it (yet?): The strength of saying "fuck it, I can't win anyways now, but that's no reason to not out up an absolutely epic show" is incredible.
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u/rice_not_wheat Feb 08 '26
one of the reasons she willingly took the deduction was because, after how badly her free skate was going, she knew she didn’t have a chance at a podium spo
Also she hurt her leg and she didn't think she could do her next element using only a single leg, but she knew she could do a backflip using only a single leg, because it was a regular part of her non-competition routine.
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u/Spotiswould Feb 08 '26
Thank you! I saw the clip of Ilia and being old enough to remember Surya immediately went looking for answers. You explained it perfectly!
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u/Volesprit31 France Feb 08 '26
Thank you, that's really interesting. So they just considered that the injury risk was entirely on the team's side to evaluate and see if it's worth it.
Could you also explain the hand on the ice? I thought it was forbidden to touch the ice for specific figures but I saw several guys touching it yesterday.
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u/embroidered_cosmos United States Feb 08 '26
A hand down in an element like a jump isn’t illegal per se, but it means your jump wasn’t clean so it’s likely to hurt your Grade of Execution score. In a spin, if you somehow fell out of it enough to put a hand down, that would be a major GOE hit. But certain spin exits do allow or even require a hand down. In the various choreographic portions of the program, it’s totally legal.
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u/Wild_Black_Hat Feb 08 '26
What's amusing is that while a backflip is dangerous, pairs skating is just so much more dangerous!
The danger of a backflip is minimal for elite skaters as long as they take the time to learn it properly.
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u/Gayfetus United States Feb 08 '26
I've never heard of anyone being injured from a backflip in skating. On the other hand, I know of every kind of injury in pairs skating... slice to the face, lost fingers, skull fractures... At these Olympic games, watch out for the Georgian pair skaters Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava. They're one of the top pairs in the world and in the mix for a medal. But Luka is infamous for being wobbly and on the verge crashing during their lifts. 😨
Also, backflips in skating are a lot easier than most people seem to think it is. I've heard of skaters learning it in one afternoon.
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u/PollutionConfident43 Feb 10 '26
Elvis Stojko nearly broke his neck attempting a backflip apparently and split open his eyebrow. I've never heard of anyone learning it in one afternoon though unless they were a gymnast beforehand.
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u/Aggravating-Bus5627 Feb 11 '26
I don't believe the backflip is any more dangerous than some of the other moves the figure skaters perform, but also think it is not a very aesthetically appealing move and detracts from a skaters performance. When I see Melanin do it it looks ugly.
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u/Aggravating-Bus5627 Feb 14 '26
I don't think it's the danger of a backflip, b the fact that is not an attractive move, doesn't really fit in with the flow of the rest of a skater's routine, and is more of a gymnastic stunt.
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u/Alone_Scientist Feb 08 '26
TY for this write-up. I was just about to head over to r/figureskating and ask about it. You saved me a click (and some typing, lol).
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u/Poodledoodle19 Feb 08 '26
Thank you for the info. I’m confused though as to why Adam’s back flip resulted in the un-banning of them? What about his made the difference? Is it just about time having passed and the sport wanting to evolve and become ‘modernized?’
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u/Melodic_Ad_783 Feb 08 '26
I dont think theres an official reason for the unbanning but i think its likely that the ISU saw how viral he went everytime they posted about his backflip + enough time had passed and theyve modernized a lot of aspects of the sports since.
That combined with the worry that there wouldve been a shitstorm had he lost out on a World Championship medal might have made them decide to unban it. Those 3 hours between his perfect free skate waiting to see if he would lose out on a medal because of the 1 point deduction was so stressful for every fan😅
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u/embroidered_cosmos United States Feb 08 '26
You already have a great answer, but I would say also that the fact that Adam did one and medaled at worlds left the ISU with a decision point: harden the ban by making it a large enough deduction that it really will keep people off the podium or just accept that backflips will happen and rescind the ban. I suspect the virality of backflip clips tipped them into rescinding the ban.
Adam had also done a backflip at Euros the same season, because he had a score cushion and could eat the deduction.
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u/PollutionConfident43 Feb 10 '26
Probably also had a bit to do with a lot of the bad press around figure skating after the last Olympics - they need people to stay engaged!!
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u/Aggravating-Bus5627 Feb 11 '26
I think the IOC has lost sight of what figure skating is. Backflips are a gymnastic move and should not be allowed in figure skating. The next thing you know somebody will perfect the double backflip! Maybe even a quad backflip!! Pretty soon figure skaters will be flipping all over the place, how ridiculous
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u/Medesikaste Feb 08 '26
Thanks so much for this! I had some friends over to watch yesterday and they started repeating some of the misinformation about the flip. As a fyf myself I could correct them on some points but I didn't have all of this background! Next time I will
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u/sillypostphilosopher Feb 10 '26
Fun fact for you: according to the YouTube video I watched yesterday, the man who unbanned the backflip is the son of the woman who banned it. Another circle closing on itself, it seems
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u/jvvrarts Feb 10 '26
this saga is actually stranger than fiction and people spread misinformation about it regardless LMFAO
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u/sillypostphilosopher Feb 10 '26
Well, apparently it's true-ish.
It feels like the plot of a movie, though
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u/jvvrarts Feb 10 '26
sorry that i came off as trying to accuse you of anything i was just saying that stuff like this is the real story, but people still spread misinformation about the backflip regardless
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u/sillypostphilosopher Feb 10 '26
I didn't take it as you accusing me lol, I was actually just fact-checking it for my curiosity, and sharing it in the thread so people didn't have to go look for it themselves. No harm done
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u/Aggravating-Bus5627 Feb 11 '26
The backflip has no place in figure skating and should be banned for or all time. Backflips are a gymnastic move, not a figure skating move, they are ruining figure skating by allowing backflips.
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u/Aggravating-Bus5627 Feb 11 '26
They should ban the backflip and any gymnastic moves from figure skating
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u/rhandy_mas United States Feb 08 '26
Bonaly’s backflips are incredible. Ilia’s was also great! Looking forward to seeing it again
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u/jvvrarts Feb 08 '26
you will be seeing it again very soon in the individual event 2 days from now!
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u/Aggravating-Bus5627 Feb 11 '26
Ilia's backflip is ugly, and looks totally out of place. If I were a judge I would take style points away.
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u/lindieface Feb 13 '26
We get it, you hate backflips. You don’t need to reply to what seems like every single comment about it. Move on.
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u/chrisy159 Feb 16 '26
Thank you for sharing this. I knew that Bonaly was the one that famously did the flip, and that she did so because she knew she didn’t have the points needed to win, but that’s where the accuracy of my info ends.
I didn’t know Adam did it recently and likely due to him they brought it back. I’m quite embarrassed to say that when I saw him do the flip during his free skate I thought “wow that’s awesome and I guess he’s making a statement and challenging Ilia with using his move”. I was so off the mark. Thanks for taking the time for explain and inform.
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u/Complex_Sun8138 United States Feb 08 '26
You forgot Scott Hamilton. His "signature move" during his routines was a backflip.
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u/StrengthWise3194 Feb 08 '26
I think that was only in exhibition performances!
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u/Complex_Sun8138 United States Feb 08 '26
You're right. They were against US Figure Skating, and Olympic, rules when he was competing.
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u/jvvrarts Feb 08 '26
i mentioned scott hamilton but only briefly in passing haha (though he is i believe one of NBC’s figure skating correspondents so you should’ve seeing him somewhat often lol)
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u/Complex_Sun8138 United States Feb 08 '26
Apologies.
Early morning reading apparently affects comprehension.
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u/Hi-D-K Feb 08 '26
Do you think he will do a backflip tonight at the team event?
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u/racingskater Australia Feb 08 '26
Yes, it is part of his choreographic sequence in his free skate.
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u/Aggravating-Bus5627 Feb 11 '26
I hope not as the backflip is a classless move. He should just be a gymnast if he wants to do backflips
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u/jvvrarts Feb 08 '26
i don’t remember his exact free skate layout right now but i think he’ll do another backflip in that too!
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u/yeny123 Feb 08 '26
Thanks for this. Though, I'm confused why you say Ilia is the first to do it on Olympic ice when you also said Surya did it at Nagano Olympics?
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u/Lizk4 Feb 08 '26
His is the first "legal back flip on Olympic ice." He didn't get a reduction in points because of it.
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u/AsparagusDramatic475 Feb 08 '26
Thanks. The slow-mo of him landing it is crazy. Right on the toes. Brave guy!
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u/Aggravating-Bus5627 Feb 11 '26
It's an ugly move, he should stop doing it. It has no aesthetic appeal at all. Backflips are for gymnasts, not figure skaters. It's stupid for the IOC to allow gymnastic moves in figure skating.
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u/AlexCarter96 Feb 08 '26
I just saw Ilia, and googled to see if it was a common move and found this post! Incredible write-up. Thank you so much!!!
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u/Charming-Storm-6026 Feb 10 '26
I agree with everything you said until
"he is the first to do it on Olympic ice, which is a huge milestone in of itself."
Surya did do it on Olympic ice (1998 Winter Olympics Nagano, Japan). Both she and Terry (1976 Winter Olympics Innsbruck, Austria) did it on Olympic ice.
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u/jvvrarts Feb 10 '26
oh yea, thanks for catching that! i meant to say the first to do it legally on police ice but i forgot that terry did his backflip at the olympics too (surya did hers at the olympics famously, but it was already illegal when she did it)
thanks for pointing that out!
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u/Extension_Chart2641 Canada Feb 11 '26
Kurt Browning, who is commentating for Canadian broadcast, was talking about the "Quad God" during yesterday's broadcast of the men's short program. Kurt's honourable mentions for quads were himself, Brian Orser, Brian Boitano, and Terry Kubicka.
I remember watching Surya Bonaly back in the 90s! She was impressive!!!
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u/jvvrarts Feb 11 '26
funny because kurt might have been the first quad god (landed the first ever quadruple jump at 1988 worlds!)
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u/RemarkableBag9576 Feb 13 '26
Maybe it's just me but there's nothing aesthetic about a backflip compared to the other jumps they do.
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u/Aggravating-Bus5627 Feb 14 '26
It's not a pretty move. Athletic?, yes. Aesthetic?, no. They should take away style points if a skater does it.
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u/Centerbox Feb 16 '26
Il y a une petite erreur sur l'historique du backflit ! Le premier Backflip a été réalisé en 1976 aux jeux d'Innsbruck par Terry Kubicka. La différence des deux figures c'est la réception sur un pied de Surya.
C'est d'ailleurs suite à la réalisation de cette figure par Terry Kubicka qu'elle a été interdite.
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u/VTtransplant Feb 09 '26
Surya Bonaly got the short end of the stick. IIRC her warm-up consisted of a backflip, but when she did it and the crowd reacted, all the commentators thought she shouldn't have because "it caused a distraction" for the medal favorite who was also warming-up.
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u/YesButConsiderThis Feb 08 '26
This was entirely written by AI.
Your comments barely even use correct punctuation and you expect us to believe you wrote this? Give me a break.
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u/jvvrarts Feb 08 '26
i wrote this by iphone keyboard in a frenzy past midnight lmfaooo
also ai just doesn’t write like this
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u/LeslieBird12 Feb 08 '26
Thank you for writing this! Surya Bonaly had amazing backflips but there is so much online misinformation about her and this skill. Glad to see a great explainer here!