The Men and the Triple Axel | Golden Skate

The Men and the Triple Axel

Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
I watched the CBC coverage of the NHK compeition. Paul Martini and Barb Underhill were the commentators and did an excellent job. One of the topics Paul mentioned was the difficulty some of the men have with the triple axle. Paul said the tripel axel is by far one of the most difficult jumps to nail because of the take off. It has to be right on.

I know Emanuel Sandhu struggled with this jump for a long time. He seems to be getting more consitent with it, but for a long time it seemed like his nemesis. Truly it posses a problem for some of the more artistic skaters when they can't nail this jump. It just eludes them.

Brian Orser does them so well he became known as "Mr. Triple Axel." I also love watching Brian do a delayed axel - he just seems to "hang" in the air. He has a cat like landing technique to all of his jumps. Here is a quote of how Brian earned the title "Mr. Triple Axel."

Mr. Triple Axel: In February 1977, Brian became the novice skating Champions of Canada in Calgary. With that win the goals became bigger and Brian began working to perfect the triple axel. In 1979 at the Junior Canadian Championships, he became the first Junior to land the triple axel in competition. Not only was he the first Junior to land it, he was only the second person to land one in competition. Thus was born the nickname "Mr. Triple Axel" which Brian kept with him through the years and later added to it, by being the first man to land two triple axels in one program as well as the first to do it in combination.

This jump really is a thing of beauty when exectued well. I love how more of the men are developing their artistry this season. There are some very artistic male skaters out there!!! Looking forward to seeing some great programs.
 

Jaana

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Country
Finland
Ilia Kulik has always had a great, text-book triple axel, and in eligible competitions he very rarely missed it as a single jump or in combination.

Marjaana
 

thisthingcalledlove

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 24, 2003
Jaana said:
Ilia Kulik has always had a great, text-book triple axel, and in eligible competitions he very rarely missed it as a single jump or in combination.

Marjaana

The Russians, IMO have the best triple axel technique. It's like they own the jump. Todd Eldredge also has a good triple axel, but he missed it when he needed it most (98 Olympics...the last triple)
 

sk8m8

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
I love Jumpin' Joe Z's triple axel. For his day it was the best in the business and I don't think I've seen too many since that had the aplitude his did. Also, never saw him fall on it either.
 

katherine2001

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 8, 2003
I always thought Brian Boitano had a wonderful triple axel and he was doing them consistently into his mid to late 30's. I don't think he can do them anymore due to his knees.
 

Sk8n Mama

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
Axel is tough for all skaters. Lots of ladies pick up a triple or two before they get the d ax consistent. I loved Tonya Harding's t ax-it was a beaut! Yags, Orser and Sandhu (when he does it) all have beauties. I find Weiss and Ferreira's t axels ugly but they oull them off. I like one that's high and nice and tight in the air with lots of flow in and out.
 
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Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
Midori Ito had a triple axel that would have made some men proud. She had great flow into and out of the jump, great height, and power.

Viktor Petrenko had a great triple axel too. It was the easiest jump for him, after the triple toe.

Alexei Urmanov had a text book triple axel- his technique was perfect.

However, my most favoritte triple axel among men belongs to Ilia Kulik. It is breath taking.

Vash
 

76olympics

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 4, 2004
the triple axel

Am I the only one who thinks the Triple Axel is much more beautiful to view than the quads? I just love the height and breadth of it-I know it is very difficult-but the fall factor is not as prevalent. In other words, I have greater confidence that the usual suspects-Kulik, Eldredge, etc.-will land it! I
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
76olympics said:
Am I the only one who thinks the Triple Axel is much more beautiful to view than the quads? I just love the height and breadth of it-I know it is very difficult-but the fall factor is not as prevalent. In other words, I have greater confidence that the usual suspects-Kulik, Eldredge, etc.-will land it! I

You are not alone. I LOVE the axel jump, in general. A well excecuted triple axel is beautiful. A quad toeloop or a quad salchow is still just a toeloop and just a salchow.

Some day we may see someone land a quad axel. However, that won't take away the beauty of a triple axel.

Vash
 
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Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
Many top skaters did not win championships because they could not master the triple axel. Christopher Bowman, Michael Weiss are prime examples.

I am amazed by how easily Nelidina landed the triple axel, but she has nothing else (outside of jumps). For some skaters some jumps are just 'easy', and some are just 'difficult'. Bowman and Weiss obviously found the triple axel difficult.

Vash
 

Kasey

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Weiss USED to have a reletively solid triple axel, earlier in his career. He seems to have been losing it more and more in recent years, poor guy.

I think with the up and comers, Griazev has a triple axel he's going to be known for. Johnny's is beautiful when he hits it, he just floats in the air. I think his is rather similar to Kulik's.

And YES, it is much more beautiful to watch a good triple axel than a regular, plain ole quad! :) lol

Kasey
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Kasey said:
Weiss USED to have a reletively solid triple axel, earlier in his career. He seems to have been losing it more and more in recent years, poor guy.

I think with the up and comers, Griazev has a triple axel he's going to be known for. Johnny's is beautiful when he hits it, he just floats in the air. I think his is rather similar to Kulik's.

And YES, it is much more beautiful to watch a good triple axel than a regular, plain ole quad! :) lol

Kasey

I remember the Philly Nats on TV, Michael did not try the quad even though Tim did do two, and well. But Michael did skate better and he executed one heluva nice 3A. He did have one but nowadays, he is not even skating what he can do. :cry:

Many skaters had good 3As: Browning, Kulic, Eldridge, Stoyko, Wylie, as well as Petrenko and Urmanov. All these guys were medalists and knew the power of the 3A in competitions. I'm not sure about Orso and Boitano.

As of today, there is Johnny with the most text book 3A you can find. Entry, revolutions, exit like silk. Andrei has a good one too, if he lands it.

Of course, there is Evgeni and Brian. yeah yeah!

Joe
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
Joesitz said:
I remember the Philly Nats on TV, Michael did not try the quad even though Tim did do two, and well. But Michael did skate better and he executed one heluva nice 3A. He did have one but nowadays, he is not even skating what he can do. :cry:

Many skaters had good 3As: Browning, Kulic, Eldridge, Stoyko, Wylie, as well as Petrenko and Urmanov. All these guys were medalists and knew the power of the 3A in competitions. I'm not sure about Orso and Boitano.

As of today, there is Johnny with the most text book 3A you can find. Entry, revolutions, exit like silk. Andrei has a good one too, if he lands it.

Of course, there is Evgeni and Brian. yeah yeah!

Joe

Orser was well known for his spectacular triple axels. He was the one that started the trend to do two triple axels in a long program. Boitano also had/has an excellent triple axel, and he was very consistent (when is he not?), except in the 94 Oly SP.

I would put Stojko's triple axel a bit lower than some of the others because of his forward landing. Urmanov, Kulik, Petrenko had textbook triple axels. I thought Browning had a strong triple axel early in his career but from 1993 it seemed to have weakened a bit in consistency. I would not put Wylie's triple axel in the same group. He could land it but it lacked height and power. The rest of his skating more than made up for it, however.

I have not seen Griazev skate in many years. I remember seeing him skate live in 2001 and his triple axel was pretty good at that time. If he has improved, that would make it excellent. I really hope we get to see him skate at COR.

Vash
 

Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Elvis Stojko has a great triple axel. In fact jumping is his strength. Kurt Browning dubbed Elvis "the Terminator" when they competed. His height is amazing. I used to always think he was going to add on another turn making it a quad.

Midori is probably the greatest female jumper ever. Kurt used to say "Midori could compete with the men."
 
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Forgive me if many of you have heard this before, but the first year Ilia Kulik was with SOI I got to see him do a fantastic 3Axel. We had on ice seats at the far end of the rink. Kulik took off about eight seats to my left and about 10 feet in front of our row of seats. The peak of the parabola was right where my seat was so his skates felt as if they were right over my head. Then he landed light as a feather about eight seats to my right. It literally blew me back in my seat.

I've had my fair share of orgasmic moments during dance, theatre, music performances, and other sporting events, but to see a 3Axel that beautiful and that close is definitely one of my top three moments of sheer thrill (at least in public;)). Seriously, it truly was a thing of incredible beauty. Can you imagine what it feels like to be able to do one that well?
Rgirl
 
S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
Brian Orser was one of the first, if not the first, elite skater to incorporate two triple axels into his long program in the early 1980s. His skating rink bore a sign "You're in Triple Axel Country". Brian Boitano also landed two beautiful triple axels in his long programs.

At the 1988 Calgary Olympics, Boitano landed two triple axels, one in combination, while Orser landed only one triple axel. The other planned triple axel was reduced to a double axel. That, plus a mistake on his triple flip, probably cost Orser the gold medal. He was the defending World champion at that time, and had he landed those two jumps, IMHO, he would have won the competition.

Michael Weiss has, unfortunately, displayed poor jumping technique with his triple axel, and this has resulted in numerous misses and falls. It's a very difficult jump, but you have to have the correct approach, takeoff, rotation, and landing technique in order to pull it off.

The triple axel has been Emanuel Sandu's nemesis for years. It has also been a trouble spot for Ryan Jahnke, Steven Cousins, and other top skaters.

Like it or not, guys, you gotta have that triple axel in your arsenal. :biggrin:
 

Evdokia

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 24, 2003
thisthingcalledlove said:
The Russians, IMO have the best triple axel technique. It's like they own the jump.
I totally agree, I can't think of any of the top Russian / Soviet skater over the past decade without a gorgeous axel. :love: And not only they have super axels, they can do amazing things with it - like Ilja Kulik taking of from spread eagle and landing in a spread eagle position (and I think Serov tried that too in 2001?), Abt landing triple Axel - triple loop combos or Plush adding a flip as sequence to his axel like it was a piece of cake! :eek:


Rgirl said:
Forgive me if many of you have heard this before, but the first year Ilia Kulik was with SOI I got to see him do a fantastic 3Axel. :eek:
And he is still doing them! I saw him landing one just yesterday at practices before skating in a show! :rock: Isn't it amazing that he is now a professional skater for so many years and is still going for it? :)
 
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