Team USA figure skater Ilia Malinin flipped the script during his 2026 Winter Olympics debut. Malinin, 21, represented the United States in the men's singles portion of the figure skating team event on Saturday, February 7, where he nailed many of his signature quad jumps before nailing a gravity-defying on-the-ice backflip. "I don't watch ice skating but I've never seen someone hit a backflip on skates," one X user wrote. "Ilia Malinin is crazy." Another fan tweeted, "The CHEEEEEEER for ilia malinin's backflip, imagine how loud it's about to be when he lands a quad axel.