Figure skating jumps
Figure skating jumps are an element of three competitive figure skating disciplines: men's singles, women's singles, and pair skatingbut not ice dancing. Jumping in figure skating is "relatively recent". They were originally individual compulsory figures, and sometimes special figures; many jumps were named after the skaters who invented them or from the figures from which they were developed. Jumps may be performed individually or in combination with each other.
It was not until the early part of the 20th century, well after the establishment of organized skating competitions, that jumps with the potential of being completed with multiple revolutions were invented, and when jumps were formally categorized. In the 1920s, Austrian skaters began to perform the first double jumps in practice. Skaters experimented with jumps, and by the end of the period, the modern repertoire of jumps had been developed. Jumps did not have a major role in free skating programs during international competitions until the 1930s. During the post-war period and into the 1950s and early 1960s, triple jumps became more common for both male and female skaters, and a full repertoire of two-revolution jumps had been fully developed. In the 1980s, men were expected to complete four or five difficult triple jumps, and women had to perform the easier triples. By the 1990s, after compulsory figures were removed from competitions, multi-revolution jumps became more important in figure skating.
The six most common jumps can be divided into two groups: toe jumps and edge jumps. The Euler jump, which was known as a half-loop before 2018, is an edge jump. Jumps are also classified by the number of revolutions. Pair skaters perform two types of jumps: side-by-side jumps, in which jumps are accomplished side by side and in unison, and throw jumps, in which the woman performs the jump when assisted and propelled by her partner.
According to the International Skating Union, jumps must have the following characteristics to earn the most points: they must have "very good height and very good length"; they must be executed effortlessly, including the rhythm demonstrated during jump combinations; and they must have good takeoffs and landings. The following are not required, but also taken into consideration: there must be steps executed before the beginning of the jump, or it must have either a creative or unexpected entry; the jump must match the music; and the skater must have, from the jump's takeoff to its landing, a "very good body position". A jump combination is executed when a skater's landing foot of the first jump is also the takeoff foot of the following jump. All jumps are considered in the order they are completed. Pair teams, both juniors and seniors, must perform one solo jump during their short programs.
The execution of a jump is divided into eight parts: the set-up, load, transition, pivot, takeoff, flight, landing, and exit. All jumps except the Axel and waltz jumps are taken off while skating backward; Axels and waltz jumps are entered into by skating forward. A skater's body absorbs up to 13–14 g-forces on landing a jump, which may contribute to overuse injuries and stress fractures. Factors such as angular momentum, the moment of inertia, angular acceleration, and the skater's center of mass determine if a jump is successfully completed. Skaters add variations or unusual entries and exits to jumps to increase difficulty.
History
According to figure skating historian James R. Hines, jumping in figure skating is "relatively recent". Jumps were viewed as "acrobatic tricks, not as a part of a skater's art" and "had no place" in the skating practices in England during the 19th century, although skaters experimented with jumps from the ice during the last 25 years of the 1800s. Hops, or jumps without rotations, were done for safety reasons, to avoid obstacles, such as hats, barrels, and tree logs, on natural ice. In 1881, Spuren Auf Dem Eise, "a monumental publication describing the state of skating in Vienna", briefly mentioned jumps, describing three jumps in two pages. Jumping on skates was a part of the athletic side of free skating and was considered inappropriate for female skaters.Hines says free skating movements such as spirals, spread eagles, spins, and jumps were originally individual compulsory figures, and sometimes special figures. For example, Norwegian skater Axel Paulsen, whom Hines calls "progressive", performed the first jump in competition, the Axel, which was named after him, at the first international competition in 1882, as a special figure. Jumps were also related to their corresponding figure; for example, the loop jump. Other jumps, such as the Axel and the Salchow, were named after the skaters who invented them.
It was not until the early part of the 20th century, well after the establishment of organized skating competitions, when jumps with the potential of being completed with multiple revolutions were invented and when jumps were formally categorized. These jumps became elements in athletic free skating programs, but they were not worth more points than no-revolution jumps and half-jumps. In the 1920s, Austrian skaters began to perform the first double jumps in practice and refine rotations in the Axel. Skaters experimented with jumps, and by the end of the period, the modern repertoire of jumps had been developed.
Jumps did not have a major role in free skating programs during international competitions until the 1930s. Athleticism in the sport increased between the world wars, especially by women like Norwegian world and Olympic champion Sonia Henie, who popularized short skirts which allowed female skaters to maneuver and perform jumps. When international competitions were interrupted by World WarII, double jumps by both men and women had become commonplace, and all jumps, except for the Axel, were being doubled. According to writer Ellyn Kestnbaum the development of rotational technique required for Axels and double jumps continued, especially in the United States and Czechoslovakia. Post-war skaters, according to Hines, "pushed the envelope of jumping to extremes that skaters of the 1930s would not have thought possible". For example, world champion Felix Kasper from Austria was well known for his athletic jumps, which were the longest and highest in the history of figure skating. Hines reported that his Axel measured four feet high and 25 feet from takeoff to landing. Both men and women, including women skaters from Great Britain, were doubling Salchows and loops in their competition programs.
During the post-war period, American skater Dick Button, who "intentionally tried to bring a greater athleticism to men's skating", performed the first double Axel in competition in 1948 and the first triple jump, a triple loop, in 1952. Triple jumps, especially triple Salchows, became more common for male skaters during the 1950s and early 1960s, and female skaters, especially in North America, included a full repertoire of two-revolution jumps. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, men commonly performed triple Salchows and women regularly performed double Axels in competitions. Men would also include more difficult multi-revolution jumps like triple flips, Lutzes, and loops; women included triple Salchows and toe loops. In the 1980s men were expected to complete four or five difficult triple jumps, and women had to perform the easier triples such as the loop jump. By the 1990s, after compulsory figures were removed from competitions, multi-revolution jumps became more important in figure skating. According to Kestnbaum, jumps like the triple Lutz became more important during women's skating competitions. The last time a woman won a gold medal at the Olympics without a triple jump was Dorothy Hamill at the 1976 Olympics.
Progress in women's single skating in the 2010s is associated with the rapid increase in the technical complexity of programs. Alina Zagitova, representing Eteri Tutberidze's team from Russia, claimed victory at the 2018 Winter Olympics with a performance that approached the theoretical limit of a program without triple axels and quadruple jumps. Following this, the next generation of figure skaters, such as Rika Kihira from Japan and Alena Kostornaia, began setting records by incorporating the triple Axel into their programs. According to sports reporter Dvora Meyers, the "quad revolution in women's figure skating" began in 2018, when Kostornaia's teammate Alexandra Trusova began performing a quadruple Salchow when she was still competing as a junior. She became the first female skater to successfully land a quadruple Lutz, a quadruple flip, and a quadruple toe loop.
American skater Ilia Malinin is the first and only person to successfully land a fully rotated quadruple Axel in international competition, a jump widely regarded as the most difficult in figure skating.
Types of jumps
| Jump | Takeoff edge | Landing edge | ||||||
| A | Axel | — | — | — | Forward outside | Outside | ||
| Lz | Lutz | — | — | Backward outside | Outside | |||
| F | Flip | — | — | Backward inside | Outside | |||
| Lo | Loop | — | — | — | — | — | Backward outside | Outside |
| S | Salchow | — | — | — | Backward inside | Outside | ||
| T | Toe loop | — | — | — | — | Backward outside | Outside | |
| Eu | Euler | — | — | — | Backward outside | Inside |
The six most common jumps can be divided into two groups: toe jumps and edge jumps. The Euler jump, which was known as a half-loop before 2018, is an edge jump. The ISU classifies jumps in order of their difficulty: the toe loop, the Salchow, the loop, the flip, the Lutz, and the Axel; and by the number of revolutions. All single jumps, except for the Axel, include one revolution, double jumps include two revolutions, and so on. More revolutions earn skaters more points. Jumps with more revolutions have increased in importance "as a measure of technical and athletic ability, with attention paid to clean takeoffs and landings". Pair skaters perform two types of jumps: side-by-side jumps, in which jumps are accomplished side by side and in unison, and throw jumps, in which the woman performs the jump when assisted and propelled by her partner. Quintuple jumps are not allowed in the short program.
Toe jumps tend to be higher than edge jumps because skaters press the toe pick of their skate into the ice on takeoff. Both feet are on the ice at the time of takeoff, and the toe-pick in the ice at takeoff acts as a pole vault. It is impossible to add a half-revolution to toe jumps. Skaters accomplish edge jumps by leaving the ice from any of their skates' four possible edges; lift is "achieved from the spring gained by straightening of a bent knee in combination with a swing of the free leg". They require precise rotational control of the skater's upper body, arms, and free leg, and of how well they lean into the takeoff edge. The preparation going into the jump and its takeoff, as well as controlling the rotation of the preparation and takeoff, must be precisely timed. When a skater executes an edge jump, they must extend their leg and use their arms more than when they execute toe jumps.