Ilia Malinin will go down in figure skating history.
Malinin, a 17-year-old American, became the first skater ever to land a quadruple axel in a sanctioned competition. The successful completion of the move occurred at the lower level U.S. Classic in Lake Placid on Wednesday.
“It felt really good. When I’m practicing it, it’s pretty easy for me to figure out how to get the right timing and everything to have it be a good attempt,” Malinin said, according to the Associated Press. “To do it in competition is a different story because you have nerves and pressure that can get in the way of that. So I have to treat it like I’m at home, and it feels pretty good.”
Nathan Chen, who won the gold medal in free skate at the 2022 Olympics, has dabbled with the move during practice. Yuzuru Hanyu, a Japanese skater who won the Olympics gold in 2014 and 2018, tried, unsuccessfully, to pull it off at the Winter Games.
“I had an idea for trying it for a little while now. March or April was when I really started to work on the technique and try to improve it,” Malinin said. “[Hanyu] definitely inspired me to try it here.”
The quad axel has an extra degree of difficulty compared to other quads such as the flip, lutz, salchow and loops because skaters who attempt it are facing forward at the start of their jump. Trying the jump while not facing backwards means having to complete an extra half-revolution.
Adam Rippon, a 2018 Olympian, gushed over the move.
“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen anyone do on the ice,” he said.
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