World champion Ilia Malinin won Skate America on Sunday for the third consecutive year. He altered his free skate on the fly after an early mistake before punctuating the program with a backflip that had been banned in competition until this season.

Ilia Malinin became the fourth man to win three consecutive Skate America titles, prevailing despite a flawed free skate in his first top-level competition since winning his first world title. Malinin,

The American world champions were unable to overcome a glaring mistake during their rhythm dance on Saturday, ultimately finishing second to Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Britain — the first non-US winners at the event since 2008.