Winter Olympics: How can Ilia Malinin do the quad axel?

"DURING THE 2022 Olympic Games, Ilia Malinin watched in amazement as Yuzuru Hanyu attempted a quadruple axel during his free skate. Hanyu, then the two-time reigning gold medalist, under-rotated the jump and fell on the ice. But the moment, and the sheer audacity to attempt the most difficult jump ever tried, awakened something in Malinin. "I was just so excited, honestly," Malinin told ESPN last month. "I was like, 'Yeah, this looks really possible. I think that I can get this done.'""

"Malinin had already given himself the nickname and social media handle, "The Quad God." He knew that not only could he do it, but he could also be the first to land it in competition. The idea of achieving figure skating immortality thrilled him. "I like to live life by this idea of proving the impossible is possible," he added. He was 17 at the time, and he confidently told his team soon after what he wanted to do."

During the 2022 Olympic Games Ilia Malinin watched Yuzuru Hanyu attempt a quadruple axel and was inspired by the audacity despite Hanyu under-rotating and falling. Malinin, already known as 'The Quad God,' believed he could land the jump and told his team, who developed a plan. By May U.S. Figure Skating posted a video of him landing a clean quad axel at a jumping camp, and he landed it in competition in September, seven months after the Olympics. Since then he became the sport's dominant superstar with two world titles and an undefeated streak beginning in 2023.

Read at ESPN.com