MILAN (AP) — Ilia Malinin silenced any doubters of the self-styled “Quad God” on Tuesday night, when the American wunderkind threw down a near-perfect short program filled with high-flying jumps and a jaw-dropping backflip to take a big lead at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

From Terry Kubicka and Surya Bonaly to Ilia Malinin, the banned figure skating backflip is finally back on Olympic ice — and is still stirring controversy.

Editor's note: Follow Olympics figure skating live results and updates from 2026 Winter Games. MILAN — Backflips are now allowed in the sport of figure skating. American superstar and men's gold medal favorite Ilia Malinin peforms a backflip in his short ...

Can't view the above video? Click here. Take a closer look at Ilia Malinin's rousing performance in the men's singles short program, where he placed himself atop the leaderboard heading into the free skate.

The "Quad God" is also pretty good at backflips. U.S. figure skating star Ilia Malinin-- who dubbed himself "Quad God" for his ability to land the quadruple axel -- made his debut at at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games on Saturday and became the first Olympic ...

Quad God’ Ilia Malinin (22 years old, United States), renowned for his quadruple axel (four-and-a-half rotations), once again showcased his signature backflip instead of the jump. Malinin scored 108.16 points (TES 62.