At the 2022 Winter Olympics, ice skaters are performing jumps that were once thought to
be almost impossible.
Why is it so hard to accomplish these literally head-spinning feats?
In figure skating, a quad jump is achieved when a figure skater jumps and spins in the
air four times.
Sounds simple, and looks beautiful, but it's no easy feat — not even for Olympic figure
skaters.
Quadruple jumps have typically only been performed by men, and even for men, they used to be
rare.
Now, though, they've become something of a mainstay.
At the 2018 Winter Olympics, Nathan Chen, also known as the quad king, set a new record
when he made six quadruple jumps.
As explained by Scientific American, this is an astonishing accomplishment, due to the
complexity of the jump.
"One, two, three, four, lands it on one foot, hangs onto it long enough, doesn't put the
other foot down – that is a clean quad."
To pull off a quad, a skater must be in the air for at least .65 to .70 seconds.
Within that minuscule amount of time, they must somehow complete four full rotations
of their body, reaching rotational speeds of almost 500 rpm.
If this wasn't hard enough, they also have to land gracefully while their body is generating
immense force.
In other words, the jump pushes the athlete to the extreme.
James Richards, a biomechanist, told Scientific American in 2014 that he believes that the
quad may be the physical limit of what's possible in terms of a figure skating jump.
Olympic figure-skating coach Tom Zakrajsek disagreed, thinking a quintuple jump could
be possible – but he did concede that the strain of a quad jump is already massive.
He explained,
"In a quadruple jump, you are landing with seven times your body weight.
That is a lot of force.
When they fall on a jump like that, some say it feels like their intestines end up in their
throat."
Despite the fact that men have historically led the way on quadruple jumps, women seem
to be taking the reins at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
On February 7, Olympic history was made when Kamila Valieva became the first female ever
to land a quad at the Olympics.
And that wasn't all – in another Olympic first, she did it twice in one routine.
While the 15-year-old Russian attempted a third quad jump, she ended up falling instead
– but despite the one flub, she earned her team gold.
One commentator noted that the historic moment would be talked about "for the next 100 years."
Athletes in the international skating community have expressed shock at how quickly the quad
jump has taken hold in women's figure skating, spearheaded by groundbreaking Russian skaters
like Valieva.
In elite-level skating, the move has gone from being thought of as almost impossible
to being considered basically mandatory.
American skater Mirai Nagasu summarized the situation to The Cut by saying,
“The expectation that the women who are winning medals will have, at a minimum, one
quad, is a little bit unfathomable.”
There are a few reasons for this; as more coaches and skaters become familiar with the
technique, it becomes easier to teach and learn, and advancements in ice skate design
have also made the move more viable for more people.
It's still incredibly difficult, but thanks to athletes like Kamila Valieva, the unfathomable
is becoming real.
The notion of men and women both accomplishing quad jumps in competition has been decades
in the making.
Skater Kurt Browning was the first person to successfully land a quadruple jump in at
the 1988 World Figure Skating Championships.
The first attempt made by a woman was in 1990 by Surya Bonaly.
Despite being able to land quads in practice, she was unable to do so in competition.
In 2001, female figure skater Sasha Cohen landed quads during practice but decided against
attempting them during competition.
In 2002, 14-year-old Miki Ando made history when she became the first woman ever to land
a quadruple jump in competition at the Junior Grand Prix Final.
She later stated the quad for her was no big deal, and that she saw it as a natural progression
from single, double, and triple jumps.
It would be 15 years until anyone would land a quad after Ando.
In 2018, a then 13-year-old Aleksandra Trusova landed two, including a quad salchow and a
quad toe loop in a single routine.
In 2019, Alysa Liu became the first American woman to land a quad at the 2019 Junior Grand
Prix.
She was only 14 years old.
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