Virginia figure skater Ilia Malinin just did something that no other ice athlete has ever accomplished: On Wednesday night in Lake Placid, he landed a quad axel—a stunning four-and-a-half revolution jump—in a competition.
The 17-year-old skater was born in Vienna and attends Marshall High School in Falls Church. He posted a video on Instagram from his training facility in Reston of him successfully landing the jump earlier this year, and was inspired by Yuzuru Hanyu’s attempt at the 2022 Beijing Olympics to try it in competition.
OH. MY. QUAD. 😲
17-year-old Ilia Malinin just landed the first quad Axel in history!
🎥: @USFigureSkating pic.twitter.com/HHjFcd3JhE
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) September 15, 2022
Keely recently graduated with her master’s in journalism from American University and has reported on local DC, national politics, and business. She has previously written for The Capitol Forum.
