How figure skating quadruple rotation became possible in 10 years from three and a half rotations
The shoes and edges have been improved, but that’s not the reason for the quadruple success.
In 2010, at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, only Mao Asada was able to jump the triple axel, but what has made the quadruple jump possible in the past 10 years? What has made the quadruple jump possible?
In swimming, high-speed swimsuit laser racers helped create records, and in marathon running, thick-soled shoes helped create records. In figure skating, did the shoes evolve?
It’s true that the materials and edges of shoes have improved, but I don’t think they have made it possible to jump one rotation more.
Minoru Sano, a pioneer of Japanese figure skating, who represented Japan at the Innsbruck Winter Olympics in 1976 and placed third at the World Championships in 1977, said, “In my day, shoes were the only thing that made you jump.
In my day, shoes were made of leather, but now there is plastic between the leather and the leather, making it easier to adjust to the shape of the foot. There is no doubt that the fit has improved. But I don’t think that’s the same as being able to jump one rotation more.” (Minoru Sano, same as below)
If it’s not the shoes, and it’s not the edge, then what makes the jump successful?
Training. I think it comes down to this.
According to Sano, what is important to increase the number of jumps is to jump high and to build a strong body axis. Does that mean you’ve started to do a lot of muscle training?
You need to train your core, but not with big muscles. Nathan Chen and Yuzuru Hanyu, who won the U.S. National Championships for six consecutive years from 2017 to 2022, are also slender.
Russian female athletes have only one season to live.
It’s true that Kamila Waliyeva and other Russian women who jump quadruple jump are so thin that you wonder how they can do it.
Walieva is only 15 years old. She’s only 15 years old, so she’s learning the quad at an amazing speed. She is only 15 years old, and she is learning quadruple at an amazing speed. I think they have special training to be able to do quadruples, but I haven’t been able to figure out what they practice.
The short lifespan of Russian athletes is still a concern: Zagitova won gold at age 15 at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Medvedeva won silver at age 19, and Lipnitskaya, then 15, won the Russian team title with a candle spin at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Medvedeva, who won a silver medal at the age of 19, and the then 15-year-old Lipnitskaya, who won the Russian team title at the 2014 Sochi Olympics with her candle spin, have only competed in one Olympics. She came like a comet and went like a comet.
It’s probably because of the changes in her body shape that she can’t perform well. I heard that there are thousands of girls in Russia who want to be taught by Coach Tutoberise. Probably, they have also started training athletes for the Winter Olympics in Milan, which will be held after the Beijing Winter Olympics. Waliyeva will probably win the gold medal in Beijing, but I think there will be different athletes who will be active next season.
Retired at 15 or 16! In figure skating, it’s easy to learn big tricks in your mid-teens when your body is soft, but if you keep practicing from too early on, your body will be overworked, so the International Skating Union doesn’t allow athletes who are not yet 15 years old to compete. The International Skating Union is now considering raising the age limit to 17.
Only 0.1 second to go for a quadruple and a half
Aside from Russia, where he might be training in secret, he usually jumps and jumps and jumps, improving his crossing and form, working with his teachers and coaches to create the jumps he wants.
He said, “When someone jumps, you start to think you can do it, even if you thought it was impossible. When someone else jumps, you start to think that you can do it, and you get the hang of it. That’s how you keep evolving.
In my day, if you could do a triple Lutz, which is a jump that you enter backward, step on the outer edge of your left foot, and then step off with your right toe, you could become the best in the world. But nowadays, 10- and 11-year-olds are usually jumping the triple Lutz.
But nowadays, 10- and 11-year-olds usually jump triple Lutz.
Nowadays, men cannot compete in the world without being able to jump the quad.
Looking back at the history of jumps, the first one and a half revolution was jumped in 1882, and the second and a half (double axel) was jumped in 1948. The first triple axel was done in 1882, and the first double axel was done in 1948, which means it took 66 years to do one more revolution.
The first triple axel was performed 30 years later, in 1978, and since no one has yet to perform a quadruple axel, history has stood still for 44 years since the first triple axel was performed.
In order to succeed, you have to jump high and increase the dwell time. Can you do a quadruple if you jump one second longer?
If you jump one second longer, you can do six rotations. Right now, it takes about 0.7 seconds to do a quad. If I could jump even 0.1 second longer, I would be able to do a quadruple and a half.
What a shame that 0.1 second is being contested in a competition that is considered an art on ice.
It’s the human ambition to try something that no one has ever done before that makes a record. It’s the same as competing for 0.1 seconds in the 100m in track and field. Yuzuru Hanyu’s dream is to be the first person in the world to jump a quadruple and a half. In fact, Yuzuru Hanyu is probably the closest person to jumping a quadruple and a half. I’m looking forward to the Olympics.
Minoru Sano Minoru Sano is a former figure skater who represented Japan in the Men’s Single at the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics, and placed 3rd at the 1977 World Championships. He is currently the head coach of the Meiji Jingu Gaien Ice Skating Rink and the president of the Japan Figure Instructors Association. He is also active as a commentator.
Interview and text by: Izumi Nakagawa