Ilia Malinin, the American figure skating sensation dubbed the "Quad God", is poised to redefine the very limits of his sport once again. Having already shattered records by becoming the first skater to execute seven quadruple jumps in a single programme, including the formidable quadruple Axel, Malinin is now teasing an even more audacious ambition: landing figure skating's inaugural quintuple jump.
The Quest for the Quintuple
While the 21-year-old prodigy has confirmed he will not attempt this historic leap before the upcoming Milano Cortina Winter Games, prioritising precision and performance for his Olympic debut, his casual remarks about the five-revolution jump have electrified the figure skating community. Speaking at last month's Grand Prix Final, where his flawless seven-quad routine broke his own world record, Malinin treated the idea of a quint as a natural progression.
"The most realistic bar is when my body starts to give up on me, so we'll figure out when that is, but I'm sure at least one or two quints hopefully will be possible," Malinin stated. He elaborated, "It's in the works. It's there, but after the Olympics that's when I want to give most of my attention to landing the quint for the public." When pressed on which jump he might add a fifth revolution to, he playfully listed them all, adding, "I'll keep you guys on your feet. I want to push myself as far as I can."
A Perfectionist's Mindset
Malinin's drive stems from a deep-seated perfectionism. "I want to find out who I truly am," he explained. "I'm a perfectionist, so I want to improve everything – technique, creativity, artistry. I want to know if there are any limits in the world." This relentless pursuit of excellence has already propelled him to the forefront of the sport, with his recent Instagram video showcasing a nonchalant quad Axel-quad Axel combination leaving observers in awe.
From Fantasy to Feasibility
Just a decade ago, the notion of a quintuple jump was widely dismissed as pure fantasy. Canadian skating legend Kurt Browning, who landed the first ratified quad in competition back in 1988, famously quipped in 2014 that a skater attempting a quint "wouldn't have shoulders and hips. They'd just be like a string with skates on." He added, "Maybe there will be a sighting of a Sasquatch at the same time that there's a sighting of a quint... But I just don't think the quint will ever be a consistent thing like it is the quad. There's just too much gravity."
Five-time Olympic ice dance medallist Scott Moir echoed this scepticism in 2014, stating, "Nobody ever thought anybody would run a four-minute mile, nobody ever thought anybody would run a 9.7 (seconds) in the 100 metres, you'd have to think that our kids' kids might be doing quints. But I think that's a long way away. Watching someone do a quad is mind-boggling still for me."
The Ideal Physique and Mentality
Yet, if the quint was once considered impossible, Malinin is the skater making the impossible feel routine. Three-time world champion Patrick Chan believes Malinin possesses the ideal physical attributes for such a leap. "He has the narrow hips, long legs, a lot of leverage, he's got the big pendulum effect that might help," Chan told Reuters. Beyond mere physique, Chan highlighted Malinin's exceptional mental fortitude: "I think it's just his confidence. He's willing to throw himself and try it, he's not scared of the unknown. He's just so malleable. He reminds me of little kids, he's flopping around, he falls and pops right back up."
Three-time world champion Elvis Stojko, who landed the first quad jump in combination in 1991, has witnessed the sport's evolution firsthand and views the quint as an inevitable progression. "I had done quads on some days that I was like, 'Man, if I had a little bit more speed, a little bit more snap, I can probably do five,'" Stojko revealed, agreeing with Chan that Malinin's body is perfectly suited. "In order to be consistent with the quads, he has the perfect body type, he's very thin, Ilia has the body type, because he's like a pencil. It's easier to rotate a pencil through the air than a fan."
Rewriting the Rulebook
Malinin enters his Olympic debut as the clear favourite for gold, having set an unprecedented standard at such a young age. Chan pondered what challenge could possibly remain for a skater who has already achieved so much. "The best way is by doing what he knows best, more difficult jumps and more rotations in the air," Chan suggested, contrasting this with improvements in performance or artistry. "I think Ilia would get more fulfilment in landing a quint, adding a new line of elements to the rule book - that's pretty cool."
Indeed, the International Skating Union has already anticipated this leap forward, adding quintuple jumps to its Scale of Values for the 2024/25 season and assigning base values to all but the Axel. Malinin's unique blend of physical prowess, mental resilience, and unwavering dedication positions him as the pioneer most likely to once again rewrite the rulebook of figure skating, pushing the boundaries of human capability on ice to thrilling new heights.
