Ice skater performs move that was illegal for almost 50 years during Olympics

For the first time in 28 years, a pretty incredible move has been performed at the Olympic Winter Games.

Ilia Malinin is the first person to attempt the spectacle since the ban was reversed in 2024.

There’s no denying that rules at the major sporting event are pretty tight, often leading to scandals like this year’s penis enlargement antics or disappointment over teams having specific bits of kit banned.

But this lift on the move that was made illegal way back in 1977 makes for an even more exciting Winter Olympics.

The American athlete included a backflip in his Olympic debut yesterday (7 February), and it will absolutely go down in history. The 21-year-old is already the two-time and reigning world champion, so it’s fair to say there was already excitement for his performance.

The last time the Winter Olympics saw a backflip on the ice was at the 1998 Games in Nagano, performed by France’s Surya Bonaly. However, the move was illegal at this time.

It had first been done in 1976 by American skater Terry Kubicka and was swiftly deemed too dangerous.

So, with the ban’s lift still relatively fresh, Malinin was wasting no time including it in his debut at the games, simply saying it was ‘fun’ afterwards.

“I mean, come on, the audience just roared, and they were just out of control,” he added. “Really, that just helped me feel the gratitude of the Olympic stage.”

Nicknamed the ‘quad God’, the skater continued: “I try to enjoy every single moment and be grateful for everything, because there are a lot of unexpected things that can happen in life. I'm taking everything to heart."

But despite the crowd’s reaction, Malinin missed out on gold as he came second with 98.00 to Japan’s Kagiyama Yuma (the reigning silver medallist) with 108.67.

The FIRST legal backflip on Olympic ice since 1976 😮

Ilia Malinin that is special 👏 pic.twitter.com/ZJ7RQTjdFx

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) February 8, 2026

The Olympian had initially planned to make further history elsewhere in his performance, as he is regarded as the only skater ever to successfully complete a quadruple Axel jump.

Malinin had submitted it ahead of the competition in his planned elements, but did not end up performing the daring jump yesterday.

"I decided a long time ago [not to do the quad Axel], but I forgot to change it off the planned elements," said Malinin, as he told reporters he hadn’t planned to do it during the team event.

If he does end up doing it at the games, he’ll be the first to complete one at the Winter Olympics.