{{Short description|Jump in figure skating}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}} {{Infobox Figure Skating Element |image=Axel Paulsen jump without text.svg |alt=Refer to caption |caption=Illustration of a single Axel jump |element name=Axel jump |alt name=Axel Paulsen jump |scoring abbrev=A |element type=Jump |take off edge=Forward outside |landing edge=Backward outside |inventor=Axel Paulsen |disciplines=Singles, pairs }}
The '''Axel jump''' or '''Axel Paulsen jump''', named after its inventor, Norwegian figure skater Axel Paulsen, is an edge jump performed in figure skating. It is the sport's oldest and most difficult jump, and the only basic jump in competition with a forward take-off, which makes it the easiest to identify. A double or triple Axel is required in both the short program and the free skating segment for junior and senior single skaters in all events sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU).
Compared with other basic figure skating jumps, the Axel requires an extra half revolution, which makes a triple Axel "more a quadruple jump than a triple", according to figure skating expert Hannah Robbins.<ref name="TC180211">{{Cite news |last=Robbins |first=Hannah |date=11 February 2018 |title=Triple Axel new ladies' figure skating staple |url=https://tucollegian.org/triple-axel-new-ladies-figure-skating-staple/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212093436/https://tucollegian.org/triple-axel-new-ladies-figure-skating-staple/ |archive-date=12 February 2019 |newspaper=The Collegian |publisher=University of Tulsa |location=Tulsa, Oklahoma |language=en-US}}</ref>
The triple Axel has become a common technical element in the men's singles discipline. As of March 2025, 28 women have successfully completed the triple Axel in international competition. The quadruple Axel was successfully executed in competition for the first time in 2022 by Ilia Malinin, who remains the only person to have landed it in international competition.
==History== [[File:Axel Paulsen c1895.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Refer to caption|Norwegian figure skater Axel Paulsen, creator of the Axel jump, pictured in 1895]] The Axel jump, also called the Axel Paulsen jump for its creator the Norwegian figure skater Axel Paulsen, is an edge jump in the sport of figure skating.{{sfn|Petkevich|1989|p=206}}{{sfn|Hines|2015|p=49}} According to figure skating historian James Hines, the Axel is "figure skating's most difficult jump".{{sfn|Hines|2011|p=32}} It is the only basic jump in competition that takes off forward, which makes it the easiest jump to identify. Skaters commonly perform a double or triple Axel, followed by a jump of lower difficulty in combination.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Abad-Santos |first=Alexander |date=5 February 2014 |title=A GIF Guide to Figure Skaters' Jumps at the Olympics |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/02/gif-guide-figure-skaters-jumps-olympics/357723/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127162322/https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2014/02/gif-guide-figure-skaters-jumps-olympics/357723/ |archive-date=27 November 2022 |access-date=28 September 2025 |magazine=The Atlantic |language=en-US |issn=2151-9463}}</ref> It is the most studied jump in figure skating.{{sfn|Mazurkiewicz|Iwańska|Urbanik|2018|p=3}}
A double or triple Axel is required in the short program for junior and senior single skaters in all ISU competitions.{{Sfn|S&P/ID|2024|p=106}} For the free skating program for junior and senior single skaters, one of the seven required jump elements must be an Axel-type jump.{{Sfn|S&P/ID|2024|pp=110-111}}{{Efn|After the 2026–27 season, six jump elements will be required in the free skating program for both junior and senior single skaters.{{Sfn|S&P/ID|2024|pp=111-112}}}} In the 2025-2026 season, junior pair skating teams have to include either a double loop solo jump or a double Axel solo jump in their short programs; in 2026–27, they will have to include either a double Lutz solo jump or a double Axel solo jump in their short programs.{{Sfn|S&P/ID|2024|pp=119-120}} In competition, the base value of an Axel is determined by the number of revolutions completed during the jump.{{sfn|Mazurkiewicz|Iwańska|Urbanik|2018|p=3}} The base value of a single Axel is 1.10, a double Axel 3.30, a triple Axel 8.00, a quadruple Axel 12.50 and a quintuple Axel is 14.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Communication No. 2707: Single & Pair Skating Scale of Values (ISU No. 2707) |url=https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.azurefd.net/isudamcontainer/CMS/Corporate-Site/Governance/Transparency/ISU-Communications/2707-ISU-SOV-SinglesPairs-2025-26-25-05-01-1747377995-9986.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250516225147/https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.azurefd.net/isudamcontainer/CMS/Corporate-Site/Governance/Transparency/ISU-Communications/2707-ISU-SOV-SinglesPairs-2025-26-25-05-01-1747377995-9986.pdf |archive-date=16 May 2025 |access-date=3 October 2025 |website=International Skating Union |pages=2–4}}</ref>
Paulsen was the first skater to accomplish an Axel, at the first international figure skating competition, which was held in Vienna in 1882, while wearing speed skates.{{sfn|Hines|2011|p=32}}{{Sfn|Kestnbaum|2003|p=67}}<ref name="nearlylanded">{{Cite news |last1=Galocha |first1=Artur |last2=Samuels |first2=Robert |last3=Berkowitz |first3=Bonnie |date=10 February 2022 |title=How Yuzuru Hanyu Nearly Landed a Quadruple Axel |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/interactive/2022/how-yuzuru-hanyu-nearly-landed-quadruple-axel/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328201424/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/interactive/2022/how-yuzuru-hanyu-nearly-landed-quadruple-axel/ |archive-date=28 March 2023 |access-date=September 29, 2025 |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref> Hines, who called Paulsen "progressive" for inventing it, stated that he did it "as a special figure".{{sfn|Hines|2011|p=132}} By the mid-1920s, the Axel was the only jump that was not being doubled.{{sfn|Hines|2011|p=32}} Dorothy Greenhough-Smith was the first woman to complete an Axel in competition,<ref name="richardson-44">{{Cite book |last=Richardson |first=T.D. |title=Ice Skating |publisher=Charles T. Branford Company |year=1956 |pages=44}}</ref> which she did at the 1908 Olympic Games;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staveley-Wadham |first=Rose |date=2021-07-26 |title=Celebrating Britain's Early Women Olympians |url=https://blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/2021/07/26/celebrating-britains-early-women-olympians/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241208153222/https://blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/2021/07/26/celebrating-britains-early-women-olympians/ |archive-date=8 December 2024 |access-date=29 September 2025 |website=British Newspapers Archive}}</ref> fellow skater TD Richardson said that she performed the jump with "complete nonchalance" while wearing an ankle-length skirt.<ref name="richardson-44" /> The ISU, however, states that Sonja Henie from Norway was the first woman to complete an Axel in competition, in the 1920s.{{Sfn|Media Guide|2025|pp=19—20}}
Professional German skater Charlotte Oelschlägel was also one of the first women to include an Axel in her programs; Hines reported that she would terminate the Axel with her "famous fade-away ending",{{sfn|Hines|2015|p=185}} the Charlotte spiral, a move she invented.{{sfn|Hines|2011|p=170}} It was also reported by Hines that in the 1930s, Austrian skater Felix Kaspar, who was known for his athleticism, performed Axels with a trajectory of four feet height and 20 feet distance from take-off to landing (1.20{{nbsp}}m height and 6{{nbsp}}m distance); Hines stated that "there is little doubt in the minds of those who saw him that had the technique then been known, he probably could have easily performed triple or even quadruple jumps".{{sfn|Hines|2015|p=113}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-0407-022, Midori Ito.jpg|thumb|upright|Japanese figure skater Midori Ito, first female skater to land a triple Axel]]
At the 1948 Winter Olympics, American Dick Button was the first skater to complete a double Axel in competition.<ref name="LAT020107">{{Cite news |last=Pucin |first=Diane |date=7 January 2002 |title=Button Has Never Been Known to Zip His Lip |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jan-07-sp-20905-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221211002244/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jan-07-sp-20905-story.html |archive-date=11 December 2022 |access-date=29 September 2025 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles |language=en-US |issn=2165-1736}}</ref> American Carol Heiss was the first woman to perform a double Axel, in 1953.<ref name="judd-100">{{Cite book |last=Judd |first=Ron C. |title=The Winter Olympics: An Insider's Guide to the Legends, the Lore, and the Games |date=2009 |publisher=Mountaineers Books |isbn=978-1594850639 |location=Seattle, Washington |page=100}}</ref> The first successful triple Axel in competition was performed by Canadian Vern Taylor at the 1978 World Championships.{{Sfn|Media Guide|2025|pp=19—20}} Six years later, at the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo, Canadian skater Brian Orser became the first skater to complete a triple Axel at the Olympics.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Victor |first=Daniel |date=12 February 2018 |title=Mirai Nagasu Lands Triple Axel, a First by an American Woman at an Olympics |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/12/sports/nagasu-triple-axel-olympics.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217092228/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/12/sports/nagasu-triple-axel-olympics.html |archive-date=17 February 2022 |access-date=29 September 2025 |newspaper=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=1553-8095}}</ref> The first female skater to successfully execute a triple Axel in competition was Japanese skater Midori Ito, at a regional competition in the Aichi Prefecture of Japan in 1988.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lubarsky |first=Jared |date=10 March 1991 |title=Power Skating |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/10/magazine/power-skating.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918012106/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/10/magazine/power-skating.html |archive-date=18 September 2018 |access-date=29 September 2025 |newspaper=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=1553-8095}}</ref> She was also the first woman to land it at an international competition, at the 1988 NHK Trophy,<ref name="IFS110920">{{Cite news |last=Flade |first=Tatjana |date=20 September 2011 |title=Midori Ito Returns to Competition |url=https://www.ifsmagazine.com/articles/611-midori-ito-returns-to-competition |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925191309/https://www.ifsmagazine.com/articles/611-midori-ito-returns-to-competition |archive-date=25 September 2011 |access-date=29 September 2025 |magazine=International Figure Skating |location=Denville Township, New Jersey |language=en-US}}</ref> as well as the first woman to land it at the Olympics, in 1992.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=19 February 2018 |title=US Female Figure Skater 1 of Only 3 in Olympic History to Land the High-Risk Triple Axel |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/female-figure-skaters-olympic-history-landed-triple-axel/story?id=53018763 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241211055542/https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/female-figure-skaters-olympic-history-landed-triple-axel/story?id=53018763 |archive-date=11 December 2024 |access-date=29 September 2025 |website=ABC News |language=en}}</ref>
The first throw triple Axel was performed by American pair skaters Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, at the 2006 U.S. National Championships.{{Sfn|Media Guide|2025|p=22}} They were also the first couple to perform a throw triple Axel at the Olympics and international competition in 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pairs – Rena Inoue and John Baldwin |url=http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00005328.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026213942/http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00005328.htm |archive-date=26 October 2022 |access-date=30 September 2025 |work=International Skating Union |location=Lausanne, Switzerland}}</ref>
In 2022, at the CS U.S. Classic, American skater Ilia Malinin was the first skater to successfully complete a quadruple Axel in competition.<ref name="WP220914">{{Cite news |last=Carpenter |first=Les |date=14 September 2022 |title=U.S. Figure Skater Ilia Malinin Lands First Quad Axel in Competition |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/09/14/ilia-malinin-figure-skating-quad-axel/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220915045110/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/09/14/ilia-malinin-figure-skating-quad-axel/ |archive-date=15 September 2022 |access-date=30 September 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>
{|class="wikitable sortable" |+List of first performed Axel jumps in international competition !scope=col|{{tooltip|Abbr.|Abbreviation}} !scope=col|Jump element !scope=col|Skater !scope=col|Nation !scope=col|Event !scope=col class="unsortable"|{{tooltip|Ref.|Reference}} |- !scope=row rowspan=2|1A |Single Axel (men's)||{{Sortname|Axel|Paulsen}}||{{flagcountry|NOR}}||1882 international skating competition in Vienna||{{sfn|Hines|2011|p=32}} |- |Single Axel (women's)||{{Sortname|Sonja|Henie}}||{{flagcountry|NOR}}||1920s skating competition||{{Sfn|Media Guide|2025|p=19}} |- !scope=row rowspan=2|2A |Double Axel (men's)||{{Sortname|Dick|Button}}||{{flagcountry|USA}}||1948 Winter Olympic Games||<ref name="LAT020107" /> |- |Double Axel (women's)||{{Sortname|Carol|Heiss}}||{{flagcountry|USA}}||1953 skating competition||<ref name="judd-100" /> |- !scope=row rowspan=2|3A |Triple Axel (men's)||{{Sortname|Vern|Taylor}}||{{flagcountry|CAN}}||1978 World Championships||{{Sfn|Media Guide|2025|p=20}} |- |Triple Axel (women's)||{{Sortname|Midori|Ito}}||{{flagcountry|JPN}}||1988 NHK Trophy||<ref name="IFS110920" /> |- !scope=row rowspan=2|4A |Quadruple Axel (men's)||{{Sortname|Ilia|Malinin}}||{{flagcountry|USA}}||2022 CS U.S. Classic||<ref name="WP220914" /> |- |Quadruple Axel (women's)||colspan=4 align=center|''None ratified'' |}
==Execution== [[File:Yuzuru Hanyu - 2018 Autumn Classic - 3.jpg|thumb|upright=.75|Yuzuru Hanyu sets up for an Axel jump]] The Axel is an edge jump, which means that the skater must spring into the air from bent knees.<ref name="BG190618">{{Cite news |last=Princiotti |first=Nora |date=12 February 2018 |title=What is a Triple Axel? And Why is it So Hard for Figure Skaters to Pull Off? |url=https://www.boston.com/sports/olympics/2018/02/12/what-triple-axel-and-why-so-hard/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215105557/https://www.boston.com/sports/olympics/2018/02/12/what-triple-axel-and-why-so-hard/ |archive-date=15 February 2022 |access-date=1 October 2025 |website=Boston Globe |publisher= |language=en-US}}</ref> It is the oldest figure skating jump; it is also the most difficult because unlike all other jumps, which is initiated with a backwards take off, the Axel has a facing forward take off and a backwards landing.{{sfn|Kestnbaum|2003|p=285}}<ref name="tomschad" /> A "lead-up" to the Axel is the waltz jump, a half-revolution jump and the first jump that skaters learn.{{sfn|Hines|2006|p=101}}
The Axel has three phases: the entrance phase (which ends with the takeoff), the flight phase, when the skater rotates into the air, and the landing phase, which begins when the skater's blade hits the ice and ends when they are "safely skating backwards on the full outside edge with one leg behind in the air".{{sfn|Mazurkiewicz|Iwańska|Urbanik|2018|p=3}} According to researcher Anna Mazurkiewicz and her colleagues, the most important parts of the entrance phase are the transition phase (also called the pre-takeoff phase) and the takeoff itself.{{sfn|Mazurkiewicz|Iwańska|Urbanik|2018|p=5}}
[[File:2025 Skate America Jason Brown 2A.webm|thumb|upright=.75|Jason Brown performing a triple Axel jump (''real-time and slow motion'')]]
The jump has a forward takeoff, typically from a step forward onto the outside edge of the takeoff foot. The skater then kicks through with their free leg, helping them to jump into the air. The skater must land on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. The change in foot required to complete the Axel means that their center of gravity must be transferred from the left side to the right, while rotating in the air, to reach the correct position for landing.{{sfn|Kestnbaum|2003|p=285}} As a result, the Axel has an extra half-rotation,<ref name="tomschad" /> which, as figure skating expert Hannah Robbins states, "makes a triple Axel more a quadruple jump than a triple": the single Axel consists of one-and-a-half revolutions, the double Axel consists of two-and-a-half revolutions, the triple Axel consists of three-and-a-half revolutions, and the quad Axel consists of four-and-a-half revolutions. No skater, as of 2025, has landed a quintuple Axel in competition.{{Sfn|Media Guide|2025|p=19}}<ref name="tomschad">{{Cite web |last=Schad |first=Tom |date=29 March 2025 |title=What is a Quad Axel? Explaining Ilia Malinin's Famed Figure Skating Jump |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2025/03/29/ilia-malinin-quad-axel-figure-skating/82707097007/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250402050419/https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2025/03/29/ilia-malinin-quad-axel-figure-skating/82707097007/ |archive-date=2 April 2025 |access-date=1 October 2025 |website=USA Today |language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:Amber Glenn 2025 Worlds Free Skate 3A 02.webm|thumb|upright=.75|Amber Glenn performing a triple Axel jump]]
Sports reporter Nora Princiotti states, about the triple Axel, "It takes incredible strength and body control for a skater to get enough height and to get into the jump fast enough to complete all the rotations before landing with a strong enough base to absorb the force generated".<ref name="TC180211"/> According to American skater Mirai Nagasu, "falling on the triple Axel is really brutal".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Robbins |first=Hannah |date=11 February 2018 |title=Triple Axel new ladies' figure skating staple |url=https://tucollegian.org/triple-axel-new-ladies-figure-skating-staple/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212093436/https://tucollegian.org/triple-axel-new-ladies-figure-skating-staple/ |archive-date=12 February 2019 |newspaper=The Collegian |publisher=University of Tulsa |location=Tulsa, Oklahoma |language=en-US}}</ref> On a successful quadruple Axel, the skater lands with five to ten times the force of their body weight.<ref name="nearlylanded" /> According to Mexican skater Donovan Carrillo, accomplishing the quad Axel is "an incredible feat"<ref name="tomschad" /> because a skater must start the jump from one foot, complete four-and-a-half rotations in less than one second, and then land on the opposite foot.<ref name="tomschad" />
[[File:Mone Chiba 2024 Worlds Free Skate 6.jpg|thumb|upright=.75|Mone Chiba landing]]
More skilled skaters have greater takeoff velocities and jump lengths, so when skaters perform double Axels, they exhibit greater rotations during the flight phase, take off in more closed positions, and attain greater rotational velocities than when performing single Axels. They also increase their turns not by increasing the time in the air, but by increasing their rotational velocity when performing single, double, and triple Axels.{{sfn|Mazurkiewicz|Iwańska|Urbanik|2018|p=4}} According to researcher D.L. King, the key to executing a successful triple Axel is "achieving a high rotational velocity by generating angular momentum at take-off and minimizing the moment of inertia about the spin axis".{{sfn|Mazurkiewicz|Iwańska|Urbanik|2018|p=4}}
===Gallery=== <gallery> File:2012 Rostelecom Cup 01d 144 Adelina Sotnikova.JPG|Adelina Sotnikova sets up for an Axel jump File:Bradie Tennell - 2018 Autumn Classic - 13.jpg|Bradie Tennell rotates in the air File:2025 Skate America Lara Naki Gutmann 3T+2A.webm|Lara Naki Gutmann performing a triple toe loop jump – double Axel jump sequence (''real-time and slow motion'') </gallery>
== Notes == {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
== Works cited == *{{Cite book |title=Figure Skating: A History |publisher=University of Illinois Press |first=James R. |last=Hines |location=Urbana, Illinois |language=en-US |url=https://archive.org/details/figureskatinghis00hine/page/101 |year=2006 |isbn=978-0252072864}} *{{Cite book |title=Historical Dictionary of Figure Skating |publisher=Scarecrow Press |first=James R. |last=Hines |location=Lanham, Maryland |language=en-US |year=2011 |isbn=978-0810868595}} *{{Cite book |title=Figure Skating in the Formative Years: Singles, Pairs, and the Expanding Role of Women |publisher=University of Illinois Press |first=James R. |last=Hines |location=Urbana, Illinois |language=en-US |year=2015 |isbn=978-0252039065}} *{{Cite web |date=21 August 2025 |title=ISU Figure Skating Media Guide 2025/26 |url=https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.azurefd.net/isudamcontainer/CMS/Corporate-Site/Press/Media-Accreditation/ISU-Figure-Skating-Media-Guide-2025-26-1756394999-1987.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250914161528/https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.azurefd.net/isudamcontainer/CMS/Corporate-Site/Press/Media-Accreditation/ISU-Figure-Skating-Media-Guide-2025-26-1756394999-1987.pdf |archive-date=14 September 2025 |access-date=16 February 2026 |publisher=International Skating Union. |place=Lausanne, Switzerland|ref={{harvid|Media Guide|2025}}}} *{{Cite book |title=Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |first=Ellyn |last=Kestnbaum |location=Middletown, Connecticut |language=en-US |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/cultureonicefigu00kest/page/285 |year=2003 |isbn=978-0819566423}} *{{Cite journal |title=Biomechanics of the Axel Paulsen Figure Skating Jump |journal=Polish Journal of Sport and Tourism |volume=25 |issue=2 |first1=Anna |last1=Mazurkiewicz |first2=Dagmara |last2=Iwańska |first3=Czesław |last3=Urbanik |location=Warsaw |date=27 July 2018 |pages=3–9 |doi=10.2478/pjst-2018-0007 |doi-access=free}} *{{Cite book |title=Figure Skating: Championship Techniques |publisher=Penguin Books |first=John Misha |last=Petkevich |location=New York |date=1989 |language=en-US |url=https://archive.org/details/sportsillustrate00petk/page/206 |isbn=978-0452262096}} * {{cite web |title=Special Regulations & Technical Rules – Single & Pair Skating and Ice Dance 2024 |date=June 2024 |url=https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.azurefd.net/isuproduction/uploads/images/isustatutes/documents/2024_Special_Regulation_SP_and_Ice_Dance_and_Technical_Rules_SP__and_ID_Final_rev.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241109092211/https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.azurefd.net/isuproduction/uploads/images/isustatutes/documents/2024_Special_Regulation_SP_and_Ice_Dance_and_Technical_Rules_SP__and_ID_Final_rev.pdf |archive-date=9 November 2024 |access-date=16 February 2026 |publisher=International Skating Union |ref={{harvid|S&P/ID|2024}}}}
{{Figure skating}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Axel Jump}} Category:Figure skating elements Category:Jumping sports