“I collected my thoughts and went”: Dikiji was the first Russian skater to perform a quadruple Axel

The beginning of the off-season in Russian figure skating was marked by a bright event that few people expected right now.

Vladislav Dikidzhi performed a quadruple axel in training, and this was not one random attempt, but a whole series of jumps.

As the athlete’s coach Oleg Tataurov said, the country’s vice-champion successfully landed three out of five jumps.

Videos of the landmark event from different angles instantly spread not only in Russia, but also abroad.

“Of course it was scary.

I collected my thoughts and went,” the athlete himself admitted.

How significant Dikiji’s achievement is is evidenced by the fact that only one skater in the world has mastered this element - an American with Russian roots, Ilya Malinin.

The Axel is considered the most difficult jump among the existing ones, as it is performed moving forward, which means that skaters make half a revolution in the air more than in the case of other quads.

You could even say that the “quaxel” is closer to a quintuple than to a quadruple.

The race for this most difficult element began back in 2018, and Russian Arthur Dmitriev Jr. was the first to try to perform it at competitions, but the attempt was far from perfect: it was under-rotated and, as a result, reduced to triple, as well as a fall.

Yuzuru Hanyu most persistently sought to take this height, but he never achieved it in official tournaments.

Moreover, the titled Japanese fell from the “quaxel” at the Olympic Games in Beijing and was left without a medal at all.

And just six months later, 17-year-old Malinin wrote his name in history by being the first to cleanly land the coveted quad at a tournament in Lake Placid.

And it was his achievement that showed other athletes that this element can be mastered.

Commenting on Dikiji’s luck, Olympic diving champion and RT columnist Elena Vaitsekhovskaya recalled Jack London’s famous phrase, which reads: “As soon as one person overcomes a barrier considered insurmountable, dozens of athletes soon do the same.”

“I liked this phrase so much that I put it as an epigraph in my sports diaries and, perhaps, that’s why I became the person who was the first to do so many difficult jumps.

Incredible complexity in relation to sports is always a question not of technology, but of psychology.

It’s difficult to overcome yourself psychologically, because it turns out to be a vicious circle: you try to be the first to do some element, but what’s in your head is that no one has done it before you.

This means, consciousness automatically tells you, this is impossible.

Vlad Dikidzhi jumped a quadruple axel.

I believe that he will be followed by attempts by other skaters, but absolute greatness in this niche will always belong to Ilya Malinin, because he was the very first to land and ride this jump,” Vaitsekhovskaya wrote in her Telegram channel.

However, in her opinion, the Russian figure skater is capable of leaving his own mark in the history of the sport, and not just repeating the path of the American.

Which, by the way, on the same day published on social networks how he performed a cascade of quadruple sheepskin coats and axels.

“An interesting point - the niche of the five-jump is now free.

And looking at how easily Vladislav completed the quadruple axel challenge today, I probably can’t guarantee that Malinin will fill this niche,” the Olympic champion emphasized.

Meanwhile, Dikiji does not yet plan to include the axel in the programs, primarily due to the high workload and high risk, which is not compensated for by grades.

The athlete spoke about this in a recent interview with RT.

According to the current ISU rules, the base cost of such an element is 12.5 points - only a point higher than that of a quadruple lutz.

The skater’s coach agrees with this. 

“This jump is very difficult, it takes a lot of strength, it is rated low by the judges, there is no talk about the program yet,” TASS quotes Tataurov.

Nevertheless, among Russian specialists the achievement of the silver medalist of the Russian Championship caused real delight.

So, Evgeni Plushenko called the incident a brilliant story.

“It’s great, it’s moving forward, figure skating is not just ballet, it’s still a sport, it’s multi-turn jumps.

I’m very glad that our athletes are moving figure skating forward,” said the two-time Olympic champion.

In turn, Tatyana Tarasova admitted that she would not be surprised if next season Vladislav still performs the jump at the official start.

“This is real happiness, hurray!

I am sure that our guys, in particular Vlad, will be able to get closer to the best skaters in the world.

He just won me over this year along with his coach.

Dikiji had a tremendous competitive season.

It is important that he has an excellent coach who led him to such jumps and such skating,” Match TV quotes the famous specialist as saying.

And according to Alexander Enbert, now athletes approach the quadruple axel more calmly, because they understand that others are already doing this jump.

So the time is not far off when many will be able to cope with it.

Gleb Lutfullin and Artur Danielyan have already tried to perform the jump, but to no avail.

“I’m very happy for Vlad Dikidzhi.

I am sure that our other young athletes are also eager to try this element.

Perhaps someone is already trying.

I am sure that we will see a quadruple axel in competitions next season,” said the 2018 Olympics silver medalist.

Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva also did not skimp on compliments to her colleague, calling him a genius.

The Russian vice-champion called Vladislav’s jump a gift for the holiday on March 8, and also dedicated a couplet to the skater.

“Girls don’t need raspberries or flowers,

Let our Vlad Dikidzhi go international,” Elizaveta wrote in her Telegram channel.