At the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan–Cortina, Italy, American figure skater Ilia Malinin, 21, electrified the crowd by landing a backflip on ice in competition. The backflip — now allowed after the International Skating Union lifted the decades-long ban — was widely celebrated as a historic and crowd-thrilling moment at the Games.
But when Surya Bonaly, a Black French figure skater, performed the same backflip at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, on February 20, 1998, she was penalized.
Bonaly, known for her powerful and athletic style, landed the backflip on one blade during her free skate — a bold, rule-defying moment that drew applause from the audience but deductions from the judges, ultimately leaving her out of medal contention.
