Why Ilia Malinin's backflip is allowed, not illegal, but still worth no points in Olympic figure skating

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Why Ilia Malinin's backflip is allowed, not illegal, but still worth no points in Olympic figure skating originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Ilia Malinin, the United States figure skating sensation, is due for another backflip or two at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

But no matter how many times he does that impressive feat, he won't get a single point for it in the scoring system.

It's one of the quirks of Malinin as he pursues an individual gold medal after already winning a team gold with his U.S. squad. He pushes the limits of a sport in a way that goes beyond what is actually judged.

It seems illogical to anyone who hasn't watched figure skating before. How can that crazy trick be worth nothing? And wait, why would he do it if it's a zero?

Malinin is just showing off. It gets him going. It gets the crowd going.

It's not without risk. If he doesn't land it, he would be deducted points for falling on a move that wasn't worth anything to begin with.

We'll explain a bit further.

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Why isn't Ilia Malinin's figure skating backflip worth any points?​

The reality is that figure skating scoring has a pre-determined set of moves that has been established for a long time.

A backflip simply isn't among that grouping.

Competitors all perform varieties of the same maneuvers, because that's what the judges are scoring.

Maybe someday the sport will change to allow more innovation. Malinin's "Raspberry Twist," another flip kind of move, also isn't worth any points.

For now, though, it's quite standardized, and flips just aren't part of the equation.

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Is a backflip illegal in figure skating or allowed?​

It used to be against the rules to do a backflip in figure skating.

If a competitor did a backflip, it was actually a point deduction.

Now, it's allowed, but it's a zero, a nothing, as if the skater just moved simply across the ice rather than flipping through the air.

Malinin clearly doesn't care. The dude wants to do backflips, so he does backflips.

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