French champion Surya Bonaly backflipped on Olympic ice years before Ilia Malinin was even born, and it brought her penalization, not plaudits.

Many were expecting a quadruple axel, but the U.S. figure skating star completed a different move during his Olympic debut.

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 ...

This is the first Olympics in 50 years where the move hasn't been illegal—and Malinin’s backflip has long been known as the “Bonaly flip.”