India, Feb. 11 -- T he 2026 Winter Olympic Games, which kicked off on February 6 in Italy, have already delivered their first major viral moment, and unsurprisingly, it belongs to figure skater Ilia Malinin, popularly known as the 'Quad God.' On Sunday, Ilia made history by becoming the first skater to successfully land a legal backflip on Olympic ice, ending a 47-year ban on the move and helping Team USA clinch gold in figure skating at the games. The backflip has long been one of figure skating's most controversial moves. First performed by American Terry Kubicka at the 1976 Winter Olympics, it was banned by the International Skating Union (ISU) a year later for being 'too dangerous.' For decades, the move survived only in exhibition performances or as an act of rebellion: most memorably in 1998, when French skating icon Surya Bonaly executed it at the Nagano Olympics, fully aware she would be penalised. Landing on one blade, her backflip became a powerful statement against the sport's rigid rules. The rules changed in 2024, when the ISU finally lifted the ban, paving the way for Ilia to seal his place in history at the 2026 Games. HTC...