American figure skater Ilia Malinin lands first quad axel in competition

Ilia Malinin made history late Wednesday when the 17-year-old wunderkind, and the heir apparent to Olympic champion Nathan Chen among American figure skaters, successfully landed the first quad axel in competition.

Malinin pulled off the 4½-revolution jump while winning the lower-level U.S. Classic in Lake Placid, New York, before a small crowd in a mostly empty arena. It nonetheless sent shockwaves through the sport, as the final and most difficult of the quadruple jumps had finally been conquered.

«It felt really good. When I'm practicing it, it's pretty easy for me to figure out how to get the right timing and everything to have it be a good attempt,» said Malinin, whose supreme confidence in his jumping ability is evidenced by use of «quadg0d» on his social media platforms. «To do it in competition is a different story because you have nerves and pressure that can get in the way of that. So I have to treat it like I'm at home, and it feels pretty good.»

HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE❗️ Ilia Malinin lands the first quad Axel in history