, creator of the Axel jump, pictured in 1895 The Axel jump, also called the Axel Paulsen jump for its creator the Norwegian figure skater
Axel Paulsen, is an edge jump in the sport of
figure skating. According to figure skating historian James Hines, the Axel is "figure skating's most difficult jump". It is the only basic jump in competition that takes off forward, which makes it the easiest jump to identify. Skaters commonly perform a double or triple Axel, followed by a jump of lower difficulty in combination. It is the most studied jump in figure skating. A double or triple Axel is required in the
short program for junior and senior
single skaters in all ISU competitions. For the free skating program for junior and senior single skaters, one of the seven required jump elements must be an Axel-type jump. In the
2025-2026 season, junior
pair skating teams have to include either a
double loop solo jump or a double Axel solo jump in their short programs; in
2026–27, they will have to include either a
double Lutz solo jump or a double Axel solo jump in their short programs. In competition, the base value of an Axel is determined by the number of revolutions completed during the jump. The base value of a single Axel is 1.10, a double Axel 3.30, a triple Axel 8.00, a quadruple Axel 12.50 and a quintuple Axel is 14. Paulsen was the first skater to accomplish an Axel, at the first international figure skating competition, which was held in Vienna in 1882, while wearing speed skates. Hines, who called Paulsen "progressive" for inventing it, stated that he did it "as a
special figure". By the mid-1920s, the Axel was the only jump that was not being doubled.
Dorothy Greenhough-Smith was the first woman to complete an Axel in competition, which she did at the
1908 Olympic Games; fellow skater
TD Richardson said that she performed the jump with "complete nonchalance" while wearing an ankle-length skirt. American
Carol Heiss was the first woman to perform a double Axel, in 1953. The first successful triple Axel in competition was performed by Canadian
Vern Taylor at the
1978 World Championships. Six years later, at the
1984 Winter Games in
Sarajevo, Canadian skater
Brian Orser became the first skater to complete a triple Axel at the Olympics. The first female skater to successfully execute a triple Axel in competition was Japanese skater
Midori Ito, at a regional competition in the
Aichi Prefecture of Japan in 1988. She was also the first woman to land it at an international competition, at the
1988 NHK Trophy, as well as the first woman to land it at the Olympics, in
1992. The first throw triple Axel was performed by American
pair skaters
Rena Inoue and
John Baldwin, at the
2006 U.S. National Championships. They were also the first couple to perform a throw triple Axel at the Olympics and international competition in
2006. In 2022, at the
CS U.S. Classic, American skater
Ilia Malinin was the first skater to successfully complete a quadruple Axel in competition. ==Execution==