MILAN, Italy — When Ilia Malinin launched himself into a backflip at the Milan Cortina Olympics, it detonated through the crowd like a firecracker and even brought tennis great Novak Djokovic to his feet with his hands on his head in disbelief.

The 21-year-old double world champion landed the first legal Olympic backflip since American Terry Kubicka in 1976, when he helped clinch gold for the U.S. in the team event in Milan on Sunday.

The crowd will get another chance to see Malinin’s maneuver when he takes the ice for Friday’s men’s free program as the favorite for gold.

The backflip was banned for safety reasons after Kubicka did one at the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics.

The maneuver became known as the “Bonaly flip” after Surya Bonaly of France famously thumbed her nose at the International Skating Union’s restrictive rules at the 1998 Nagano Olympics.

Bonaly had sustained a groin injury the day before the free program and knew her quest for a medal was over, and so defiantly unleashed the jump with a one-footed landing.

The ISU removed the somersault ban in June 2024, saying in their meeting agenda: “Somersault type jumps are very spectacular and nowadays it is not logical anymore to include them as illegal movements.”

AERIAL SHOWMANSHIP

Malinin, the self-named “Quad God,” has drawn global attention for his aerial showmanship. He became the first skater to land seven quadruple jumps in a program at the Grand Prix Final in December. He is also the first to land the quadruple Axel in competition, considered the toughest jump in the sport.

The backflip carries no set point value, but it can contribute to Malinin’s component score – known under the old judging system as “artistic impression”.

It also gets a bigger roar from the crowd than his more technically demanding jumps because it plays to pure spectacle in a way quads simply cannot.

“It gets that audience applause, feels really suspenseful and I really just like doing it,” Malinin said last season when he began doing the maneuver.

His programs also include one-handed cartwheels and a “raspberry twist,” another zero-points move in which his body, much like a break dancer’s, rotates in the air horizontally to the ice.

However, the young skater has so far resisted the temptation to land the first quadruple Axel on Olympic ice, saying he is choosing caution over showmanship.

“I’m hoping that I’ll feel good enough to do it (on Friday),” he told reporters on Tuesday. “But of course, I always prioritize health and safety, so I really want to put myself in the right mindset where I’ll feel really confident to go into it and not have that as something that I’m going to risk.”

Malinin takes a score of 108.16 from the short program into Friday’s free skate. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama is second on 103.07, Adam Siao Him Fa of France is third (102.55).

–Reuters, special to Field Level Media

The NBA suspended Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks on Thursday for one game without pay after he received his 16th technical foul this season.

A player or coach is automatically suspended without pay for one game after a 16th technical foul in the regular season, per league rules. Every additional two technical fouls during that season results in the player or coach suspended without pay for another game.

Brooks, 30, was whistled for a personal foul and then a technical with 6:37 remaining in the second quarter of the Suns’ 136-109 home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.

He will serve the suspension after the All-Star break on Feb. 19 when Phoenix visits the San Antonio Spurs. He previously served one-game suspensions in May 2022, February 2023m, March 2023 (twice) and April 2025.

Brooks is in his first season with Phoenix and is averaging a career-high 21.2 points and career-high-tying 3.7 rebounds as well as 1.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 31.1 minutes in 49 games (all starts).

For his career, Brooks is averaging 14.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 29.6 minutes in 541 regular-season games (514 starts) for the Memphis Grizzlies (2017-23), Houston Rockets (2023-25) and Suns.

He was All-NBA Defensive second team with the Grizzlies in 2022-23.

Houston selected Brooks in the second round of the 2017 NBA Draft out of Oregon and traded him the same day to Memphis for a second-round pick that became guard De’Anthony Melton.

–Field Level Media

MILAN, Italy — Italy is prepared for an uphill battle after unexpectedly reaching the women’s Olympic ice hockey quarterfinals, but go into a clash with the heavily favored United States feeling no pressure.

The underdog hosts defied the odds and the doubters by winning two games, against France and Japan, which was enough to finish third in Group B and set up Friday’s meeting with the Group A winners.

The U.S. are two-time gold medalists and strolled to top their group on maximum points, beating defending champions Canada 5-0 along the way.

Italy coach Eric Bouchard was asked how difficult it was to prepare for the task ahead.

“It’s not difficult. I mean, it’s a challenge, but it’s a great one,” Bouchard told reporters after a practice session on Thursday.

“You have the chance to face the best hockey team in the world, and there’s no pressure on our shoulders right now. The only thing we can do is just go out there and perform,” he said.

“They might have a lot of talent, they have depth, but there’s something we control, and that’s the work ethic and the willingness to leave everything we have out there. That doesn’t require talent, and I think that’s the focus we have right now.”

Bouchard praised his players’ attitude in the days leading up to the game.

“They’re dialed in, honestly, this was our best practice so far,” he said.

“They were focused, they were on task, they wanted to prepare for tomorrow. They know it’s a huge challenge, but everybody’s excited.

“We’re playing for our country, and we want to make sure we play with pride for everyone who’s going to be watching out there.”

Italy was never supposed to make it this far, and goes into what most believe will definitely be its final contest of the Milan Cortina Games knowing that it will take something extraordinary in order to survive.

“We knew that we were coming in as the underdogs, the lowest-ranked team, but we also believed in ourselves,” Italy defender Jacquie Pierri said.

“It’s really cool to be here now a week later with what we’ve accomplished. And the next challenge we have tomorrow, we know we’re facing a huge uphill battle.

“Anything can happen on any given day,” Pierri said, “and we’re going to try our best to take advantage of whatever luck we get and make it as hard for them as possible, physically and mentally.

–Reuters, special to Field Level Media