Nathan Chen Just Made History With 6 Quad Jumps. What’s That?

All eyes are on the quadruple jumps of the figure skaters competing in the men’s free skate program at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Quadruple or quad jumps are figure skating jumps that involve at least four full revolutions. Successful quad jumps occur when the figure skater takes off backwards, does at least four full revolutions and lands with one foot on a backward outside edge of their skate.

Men’s events in figure skating tend to place a lot of focus on quad jumps, specialized in the U.S. by skater Nathan Chen, who became the only figure skater to land five quadruple jumps in one program in 2017. The quadruple jump phenomenon has taken off over the past decade, and is now basically a requirement for men who want to compete after the International Skating Union increased the jump’s point value in 2010, according to Quartz.

Most quadruple jumps are toe loop or Salchow jumps. Quadruple axel jumps are technically possible, although they would require an additional half-turn mid-air. No athlete has accomplished the quadruple axel thus far.