MILAN — Ilia Malinin secured gold for Team USA.
There was no Quad Axel from the "Quad God," but he pulled off a one-footed backflip that stunned the crowd and gave his country back-to-back team titles. The U.S. and Japan were tied for first place going into the final programs of the team event.
Malinin performed in the men's free skate of the team event Sunday, Feb. 8. He decided to go for the Triple Axel instead and had a stumble that looked like might doom him. Instead, he powered through and delivered the sequence of the night with a quad salchow and triple axel, and then for good measure, did the backflip that brought everyone to their feet.
It was as strong of a finish as you can get, and he earned a whopping score of 200.03, with a 110.32 technical score and 89.71 points from the component. Japan's Shun Sato closed the night with a score of 194.86 — technical score 106.49, component 88.37 ― giving Japan the silver medal.
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