American figure skater Ilia Malinin has been engaged in gymnastics for a significant portion of his life, which greatly contributes to his remarkable ability to execute stunning quadruple jumps. At only 19 years old, he secured his world champion title in March, and his gymnastics background has also allowed him to incorporate the backflip into his skating repertoire with remarkable ease.
Previously prohibited due to safety concerns, the backflip and other “somersault type jumps” were removed from the restricted list by the International Skating Union after the last competitive season. This change led to their resurgence in lower-tier competitions, such as the Lombardia Trophy last month, where Malinin showcased a successful backflip on his way to winning the event.
The question of whether Malinin will include the backflip in more prestigious competitions looms large, especially with Skate America commencing the Grand Prix season in Allen, Texas, and the world championships in Boston on the horizon.
“I’m definitely planning to keep it,” stated Malinin, who famously became the first skater to land the 4 1/2-revolution quad axel in competition. “I’m exploring ways to elevate it further in the future, perhaps by adding a twist or integrating some wild combinations.”
During the Lombardia Trophy, Malinin executed the backflip later in his free skate, which was set to “I’m Not a Vampire” by Falling in Reverse. In addition, he completed five quad jumps across two flawless programs, outperforming Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama and Shun Sato.
“I’ve been practicing it off-ice for about four or five years,” Malinin explained. He initially learned the backflip on ice with the aid of support ropes to assist with his landing, noting that gymnastics training helped create muscle memory for the move.
While many skaters, including U.S. Olympic champion Nathan Chen, have demonstrated backflips in exhibitions for years, French skater Adam Siao Him Fa famously pulled off a backflip during his European Championships skate in January when he was leading, despite knowing it would incur a points penalty.
The most notable instance of a backflip at a competition occurred during the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan when Surya Bonaly landed one on a single blade despite already being out of medal contention; this particular move has since been named after her.
At Skate America, the initial event of six in the Grand Prix series that leads to the Grand Prix Final in France this December, athletes will be vying for top positions as the Winter Games approach, just over a year away.
Russian and Belarusian competitors are once more prohibited from participating in events due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
In women’s competition news, Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto is set to kick off her season at Skate Canada later this month, aiming to become the first woman to claim four consecutive world titles since Carol Heiss’s five titles from 1956 to 1960. Last to win four straight titles was Scott Hamilton, who achieved that feat from 1981 to 1984.
Worlds runner-up Isabeau Levito will compete at Skate America along with U.S. teammates Bradie Tennell and Elyce Lin-Gracey. Meanwhile, Alysa Liu, the 2022 U.S. Olympian, will commence her Grand Prix journey at Skate Canada following a two-year retirement.
In the ice dance category, two-time defending world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates are back, eager to clinch gold medals at the upcoming Milano-Cortina Olympics following their fourth-place finish at the Beijing Games. They were recently awarded their team gold medals from the previous Olympics due to a delay caused by a Russian doping investigation.
“We’re headed for Milan,” Chock expressed, highlighting that both she and Bates continue to be inspired and discover new elements in their skating, which invigorates their progress.
Their chief competition will come from Canadian duo Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier as well as Italy’s Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri.
In pairs competition, reigning world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps will launch their Grand Prix season on home turf at Skate Canada. They face stiff rivalry from Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, who earned silver at the worlds, as well as from Italy’s Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii and Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin.
American pairs champions Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea are also gearing up for their participation at Skate America.