World champion Ilia Malinin won Skate America on Sunday for the third consecutive year, altering his free skate on the fly after an early mistake and 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.