U.S. figure skater Ilia Malinin became the first person to land a legal backflip in Olympic competition in almost 30 years.
Figure skater Ilia Malinin didn’t earn the top score in the men’s short program of the team event Saturday, but he still made history by landing a backflip, a move not seen at the Olympics in decades.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 theThe 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. NAGANO, JAPAN - FEBRUARY 20: France's Surya Bonalay does a back flip during the women's long program at the White Ring. Bonalay finished out of the medals. 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,""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," 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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