But for experts, it is a historical cycle after nearly half a century. A movement that was once banned, once considered "out of sync with art standards", now reappears right on the biggest stage of winter sports.
There are moments in sports that are not just a movement of an athlete, but a decades-long dialogue between tradition and innovation. The aerial backslip in figure skating is such an example. It is not simply a jump, but also history, controversy, identity, and even the resistance of athletes standing on the line between art and physique.
Worry about protecting the "ballet on ice
The story begins in 1976, at the Olympics in Innsbruck (Austria), Terry Kubicka entered the competition with a bold decision. He performed a flying backwards, a move that had never appeared at previous Winter Olympics. In a sport that is considered a "ice ballet", that jump is like a cut into an aesthetic mold that has existed for decades.
Interestingly, Kubicka succeeded with that backflip. It is controlled, does not cause accidents, does not interrupt the test, but makes managers worried. If an acrobatic movement is accepted, where will figure skating go? That is a more philosophical than technical question.
Not long after, the International Skating Union issued a decision to ban somersault moves, including backflip, in official competitions. The reason announced was safety and inconsistency with the artistic spirit of the sport. But behind the regulation is a deeper desire: to protect the classic identity of figure skating.
In the old grading system, where the artistic element was placed on par, even higher than technique, a reversal was considered too "physical". It was strong, direct, and immediately impressive, but lacked the softness that European judges at that time considered standard. In other words, backflip was not banned just because it was dangerous, but also because it shook the aesthetic definition of the sport.
Surya Bonaly and the jump of resistance
22 years after Kubicka's jump, history is written in a different, more emotional way. At the 1998 Nagano Olympics, Surya Bonaly made a backflip with one leg, in the context that she was injured and almost had no chance of competing for a medal. It was not a tactical choice. It was a personal statement.
That moment was seen as an act of artistic resistance. Bonaly came from gymnastics, possessing outstanding bounce and physical foundation compared to many contemporaries. However, her strong, energetic style was judged to be "lack of classical quality". In an ecosystem of scoring that favors traditional aesthetics, difference becomes disadvantageous.
Bonaly's reversal is a symbol of self-affirmation. An athlete who knows the rules, understands the consequences, but still chooses to do what he believes is right with his performance identity. And that is what makes backflip from a controversial technique become a cultural image of figure skating.
For nearly 50 years, while jumps have become more and more difficult, from triple to quad, from 3-round to 4-round rotation techniques, a simple mechanical reversal has been placed outside the scoring system. A historical paradox.
Historical circle
The change only came in 2024, when the ISU officially removed the rule prohibiting somersault moves. However, this "opening" is cautious. Backflip is allowed to be performed, but without technical points. That means, in terms of competition strategy, it is still a high-risk option, with score benefits almost zero.
It is in that context that Ilia Malinin's appearance at the 2026 Winter Olympics became special. Malinin is a typical representative of the modern ice skating generation, where technical boundaries are constantly pushed far with 4-round jumps and extreme difficulty. But instead of just chasing scores, he brings backflip back as a symbolic detail.
From a purely technical perspective, backflip is not the most difficult move in modern figure skating. A top athlete today can completely perform much more complex quad series. But historically and emotionally, backflip has a different weight. It evokes a period when this sport had to redefine itself.
A little-mentioned detail is that the concerns of managers in the past are not entirely unreasonable. If backflip becomes a high-scoring factor, figure skating can shift towards strong physicalization, closer to ice gymnastics. This will change the training structure, selection criteria and the athlete evaluation ecosystem.
But the times have changed. When 4-round jump technique became a new standard, the physical level in ice skating has increased significantly. Therefore, the return of backflip is no longer technically breakthrough, but like a sign that this sport is accepting more diverse styles.
Looking broader, the story of the upside-down jump reflects a rule in top sports. Any element that goes ahead of its time is easily suspected. When it appears too early, it is seen as breaking order. But when the context changes, that element itself becomes a symbol of progress.
From Kubicka to Bonaly, then to Malinin, backflip has gone through 3 different stages: Shocking, resisting and reintegrating. It is not the journey of a technique, but the journey of aesthetic concepts. Art ice skating is always between 2 extremes: classical art and modern physicality. The reverse jump is simply the clearest intersection of these 2 worlds.
