The Fairfax County, Virginia, teen known as the “Quadg0d” lived up to his name at the World Figure Skating Championships by landing the competition’s first-ever quadruple axel. Vienna’s own Ilia Malinin pulled off what is considered the sport’s hardest jump — which involves the skater doing four-and-a-half spins while in the air — on his way to a third-place finish at the championship held in Saitama, Japan.
Boom. And there it is…
Ilia Malinin lands the first quad Axel at the world championships. #WorldFigure 🎥: @NBCOlympics pic.twitter.com/WiXLG8WKMq — Team USA (@TeamUSA) March 25, 2023
It was the first time that the 18-year-old senior from Marshall High School medaled in the world championships. “I was nervous at the beginning so I was glad to pull it off,” Malinin told The Associated Press. “I’m just very shocked by how much I have progressed this season.” Malinin attempted six quadruple jumps in total, but under-rotated on a quad lutz and was deducted points on a quad flip and a quad lutz. The teen previously attempted the quad axel during a competition in San Jose, California, but failed to land it. WTOP’s Luke Lukert and The Associated Press contributed to this report.