How it feels to watch @ilia_quadg0d_malinin’s Quadruple Axel for the first time (and every time since). In 2022, I recorded Ilia Malinin landing the first ever Quadruple Axel (4.5 revolutions) in Grand Prix competition. Specifically, I wanted to capture the crowd’s reaction after the jump. Every single face in that sold out crowd was there to watch something once deemed impossible. I know at least one photographer who didn’t even want to shoot it—he just wanted to witness it with his own two eye

For decades, it was considered the holy grail of figure skating, a jump so difficult, so daring, so completely defiant of the laws of physics that nobody would ever land it—until the quadruple axel was conquered by a young American who calls himself the Quad God. His real name is Ilia Malinin. And that name is everywhere this Olympics. The 21-year old from Northern Virginia comes into the Milan Cortina Olympics as one of Team USA’s biggest stars. Since mastering the quad axel, he has continued t

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Every day I teach most of my day on axel or double axel lessons. I know this jump inside and out, all the smallest details and mistakes skaters can make on the entry. One common theme on the axel is the leading side topic. How to make that entry position correct - not too over checked and not too square. Here’s a quick guide on how to set the position. If you need help with your axel or double axel, I have a few spots left for one on one Zoom training online. Email book@flexafit.com to fix your

An easy way to learn an axel for skaters is to draw this little pattern on the ice to follow, where they need to land into a little box to finish the backspin. This teaches the follow Through to travel in the right direction and not let the jump go into the circle on the landing. At my workshops and online off ice classes, I break down how to set up properly L, avoid common mistakes right from the beginning so that it doesn’t take a tear or longer to land that axel. With the correct progressions