Ilia Malinin electrified the Milan‑Cortina arena with a daring backflip that sent the home crowd into a frenzy. Despite a few mistakes, the 21‑year‑old posted over 200 points, clinching the U.S. team gold by a single margin over Japan. Dubbed the Quad God, he entered his first Olympics as the sole skater to land a quadruple axel in competition.

Born in Virginia to former Uzbek Olympians Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, Malinin grew up in a skating‑centric household. His physical profile rivals that of an NBA jumper: a quadruple axel propels him 90 cm high, comparable to a basketball player’s vertical. The move spins at roughly 350 revolutions per minute, a rate likened to a kitchen blender, earning him the moniker “Quad God.”

Malinin’s free‑skate program carries a technical base score far above his rivals, promising a sizable margin if executed cleanly. After securing team gold, he said he will “pace” himself for the individual event, but judges reward ambition, and his backflip— the first legal Olympic backflip since 1976—already cements his place in history. He now stands as the clear favorite for individual gold.