The limits of the human being: Is the quintuple jump possible in figure skating?

• The Javier Fernández effect "Before his successes they called me a fagot"

In 1988, during the World Figure Skating Championships, a then-unknown Canadian,

, jumped, spun four times and landed on his feet to become the first skater to complete a quadruple, a jump then considered impossible.

It was a feat, a historic achievement.

"Tell the human being that he cannot do a thing and the human being will find a way to do it," Browning declared then.

Today adolescents of 14 or 15 years old perform quadruples in training competitions around the world and even a few weeks ago a skater, the American

, was able to nail the quadruple axel, the most difficult of all the quadruples, the one that requires half a turn more.

Giving four laps in the air is already something greatly surpassed by the human being, so: When will someone give five?

The quintuple jump, the new frontier.

"We will see, we will see in the next few years, surely because of Malinin, and in 15 or 20 years there will be several skaters who have quintuples in their programs. But it will not be something as widespread as quads. Not everyone will be able to do them, It will be a matter of a few specialists with a very specific physiognomy", analyzes

, youth coach of the Spanish

, who has closely experienced the evolution of his discipline.

"When I competed, in the 80s, quad jumps were almost impossible jumps because we didn't understand the technique. We jumped as high as possible and, once on top, we turned. Today we know that we have to get off the ice already rotating. It's a essential, revolutionary change, like the

technique in the high jump", analyzes the former skater.

0.73 seconds sleep

Unlike the quadruple axel, which had many candidates, including the two-time Olympic champion

, who even tried it in competition, the quintuple has no one to try it.

At least still.

Malinin's trainers admit that "it's a possibility" that he trains him now and other competitors with little success, such as the Italian

or the German

, have been fooling around with the option of completing it, although they all seem a tad far away.

Humanity seems a tad far away.

Because to achieve this, you need to evolve in practically everything.

More altitude, more flight time, more speed... everything.

It's possible?

According to several studies, yes, but human limits would be touched.

In fact, two of the three possible parameters are already considered practically on the line.

Today, to complete their quads, skaters rise up to 60 centimeters above the ice and hold about 0.70 seconds in the air.

It would be possible to climb a bit more and perhaps reach 0.72 or 0.73 seconds in suspension, but little more.

Impossible.

It goes against physics.

The only thing there seems to be room for is speed.

Seeking to turn five times on its own axis, skaters could speed up to 440 revolutions per minute -currently around 400- and, for that, they would require two improvements: to perfect the technique, that is, to shrink even more, with the arms and the legs even more attached, and mold his body.

The finer the better.

In fact, the biggest help to Malinin's quadruple axel was his small shoulders and narrow hips, his 53 kilos of weight spread over 1.68 meters.

"The risk of injury is very high"

Then another thing will be to make a quintuple compensation.

Because that is another debate.

Malinin is the favorite for the Saitama World Cup next March, but not only because he is capable of nailing a quadruple axel.

That virguería only gives him a point and a half more than other jumps -in a program that is around 200 points-.

He is favorite because he is able to link quads of all kinds with incredible ease.

To make attempting a quintuple worthwhile, the International Ice Skating Union (ISU) would need to tweak their scoring program.

Something he won't do.

"And that is why it may take time to see a quintuple. If it is only going to award two points more than a quadruple

it will not compensate. You have to think that in a quintuple the risk of injury is very high. The impact suffered by the vertebrae is very strong , a fall can be very uncontrolled... Malinin's coaches must be weighing their options a lot now," concludes Lafarga, convinced that any heroism is possible.

If a Spaniard, like his former pupil Javier Fernández, could win two World Cups, even a five-fold jump seems within the limits of the human being.

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