French champion Surya Bonaly backflipped on Olympic ice years before Ilia Malinin was even born, and it brought her ...

Before Ilia Malinin “made history” with a backflip, Surya Bonaly — a Black Olympic figure skater — risked everything ...

At the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, the world applauded Ilia Malinin's backflip. But long before him, Surya Bonaly dared to defy gravity and the rules.

With the Winter Olympics in full swing, a whole new cast of athletes is claiming the spotlight. And one of the biggest ...

Don’t forget who flipped first. On Tuesday night, figure skater Ilia Malinin thrilled the crowd and judges with a flawless, impossibly challenging short program that included a much-ballyhooed ...

Ilia Malinin’s backflip has been openly embraced, but it was received differently decades ago when Surya Bonaly performed the move at the 1998 Games.

Ilia Malinin, the U.S. figure skater nicknamed the “Quad God,” became the first person to legally land a backflip on one ...

Ilia Malinin is the only figure skater you'll see do a backflip at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Must be worth a lot of points for the United States superstar, right? Well, not exactly. It's actually ...

A fully validated quad at a women’s skating event didn’t happen until 2002 when Miki Ando of Japan successfully executed a quadruple salchow at the Junior Grand Prix Final. Ando tried to land the ...

Sierra Kerr comes from solid surfing stock, and it shows. Most recently, it showed when she did a backflip on her maiden attempt at URBNSURF Sydney. “First try chlorinated backflip,” she wrote on ...

American figure skater Ilia Malinin made history on Saturday by becoming the first Olympian ever to hit a backflip in competition.

U.S. figure skating phenom Ilia Malinin did a backflip in his Olympic debut, and another the next day. The controversial move was banned from competition for decades until 2024.