The
Blink of anEye Is the Rate of Rotation Exceeding What the Naked Eye Can See?
by Kent McDill
W
hen Nathan Chen began landing quad jumps, and when Ilia Malinin landed the first quad axel in competition in the U.S. Classic in Lake Placid in 2022, the figure skating world collectively existed in awe of what had been accomplished by the human body in motion. The physical effort involved in making that many rotations in a single jump is difficult to fully comprehend. Such jumps are also incredibly challenging to actually see and measure— in detail!—via the human eye. And now? Skaters are working on quint jumps. “The quadruple jump was previously considered as an unrealistic thing for human beings, but the fact that so many skaters hit it almost naturally means somebody will land a quintuple someday,’’ said Olympic medalist Shoma Umo back in 2019. And what do judges think about that possi-
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bility—from a technical standpoint? “Can the human eye actually decipher the five rotations?’’ asked Professional Skaters Association Hall of Fame technical judge Gale Tanger. “We have reached the human capacity to evaluate that.” A solution to the problem lies in the use of video replay to assist in judging. Video replay technology has been adopted by most professional sports around the world. But the speed involved in figure skating jump rotations is unique in its visual complexity, and there are even limitations to what video replay can offer in determining just what has happened in that less than a second the skater is in the air. This problem has no simple resolution and there is no consensus on which available solution is the best for the needs of technical panels or judges.
