American figure skater Ilia Malinin has been doing gymnastics off the ice much of his life, one of the many reasons why he can so effortlessly land the dazzling quadruple jumps that made him a world champion at just 19 years old last March.
It is also why Malinin has been able to so seamlessly incorporate the backflip into his program.
Once banned in competition for its inherent danger, the backflip and all other “somersault type jumps” were removed from the restricted list by the International Skating Union after last season. And almost immediately, they began to pop up in lower-level competitions, including the Lombardia Trophy last month, when Malinin landed one on the way to victory.
But what about more important competitions, such as Skate America, which opens the Grand Prix season Friday night in Allen, Texas? Or the world championships in March in Boston, the last one before the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy?
“I’m definitely planning to keep it," said Malinin, the first skater ever to land the 4 1/2-revolution quad axel in competition. “I’m thinking of ways to really level it up as well in the future, like adding a twist or some crazy other combination.”
At the Lombardia Trophy, Malinin landed the backflip late in his free skate, set to “I'm Not a Vampire” by Falling in Reverse. He also landed five quads over two clean programs to outdistance Japanese rivals Yuma Kagiyama and Shun Sato.
“I’ve been doing it off-ice for four or five years now," explained Malinin, who took the backflip to the ice at first by using support ropes to help guide his landing. “I was doing gymnastics and it started to become muscle memory.”
Many skaters, including reigning Olympic champion Nathan Chen of the U.S., have been doing backflips in exhibitions for years. And in January, French skater Adam Siao Him Fa was so far ahead during his free skate at the European championships that he added one to his program, even though he knew it would cost him points.
The most famous backflip in competition came during the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan. Surya Bonaly, who knew she would finish out of the medals, landed one on a single blade in her free skate — that particularly flip is now named for her.
Skate America is the first of the six Grand Prix events that lead up to the Grand Prix Final in December in France. And with the Winter Games just over a year away, the primary contenders for Olympic medals will begin to rise to the fore.
Russian and Belarusian athletes once again are banned from competing because of the war in Ukraine.
Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, who will begin her season at Skate Canada later in the month, is trying to become the first woman to win four straight world titles since Carol Heiss won five in a row from 1956-60. Scott Hamilton of the U.S. was the last skater to win four in a row, capturing every title from 1981-84.
Worlds runner-up Isabeau Levito will be at Skate America with American teammates Bradie Tennell and Elyce Lin-Gracey, while Alysa Liu — the 2022 U.S. Olympian fresh off a two-year retirement — will open her Grand Prix season at Skate Canada.
Two-time defending ice dance world champs Madison Chock and Evan Bates are back with their eyes on winning their first gold medals in the event at the Milano-Cortina Olympics. The duo were fourth at the Beijing Games. They did finally receive their team gold medals as part of the U.S. squad that were held up by the Russian doping investigation at the Paris Olympics.
“We’re headed for Milan," said Chock, who along with Bates are known for their avante-garde skating style. "We’re still inspired and finding new things in our skating, and it feels great to keep improving.”
Their biggest rivals are Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada and Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy.
Reigning world champs Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps will begin their Grand Prix seasons on home soil at Skate Canada. Their biggest competition will be Japan's Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, who took silver at worlds, along with Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii of Italy and Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany.
U.S. pairs champions Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea will be in the Skate America field this weekend.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics