Entertainment
The evolution of the quad, ice skating’s most daring jump
The scariest jump in ice skating requires your shoulders, hips, knees and feet to be in perfect alignment.
All of your body weight must be concentrated because it’s the only way to build enough power to complete at least four full revolutions in the air and land backwards on one blade. Everything happens in less than a second.
“Your legs are on fire,” said Timothy Goebel, the first skater to land three quads in one program, which earned him an Olympic bronze in 2002.
“Your lungs are screaming at you, like your body is just wrecked,” Goebel said. “You have to have that jump so ingrained in your muscle memory, but it’s also a lot of mental fortitude.”
It’s called a quadruple jump, or quad for short, and while it’s still redefining women’s figure skating, it’s become a necessity in the men’s programs.
The more advanced sibling to the quad is a quad axel, which requires a forward-facing takeoff and a full four-and-a-half revolutions in the air. Ilia Malinin, who already helped to lead the U.S. to gold in the team event at the 2026 Winter Olympics, is the only skater ever to land a quad axel in competition when he stunned the 2022 crowd at the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic.
Jamie Squire / Getty Images
“I never thought I would see one in competition,” Goebel said. “The fact that he can do a quad axel almost every day in practice with relative ease is mind-blowing.”
Patrick Blackwell, a 2026 U.S. Junior Men’s National Champion, already performs multiple quads in competition. He uses a pole harness, like most skaters, to practice the quads he hasn’t yet mastered. It’s a lot of falling over and over again in the pursuit of greatness.
But Blackwell has one thing on his side that Goebel didn’t: analytics.
“What they do is measure your height, your rotational speed and variations in any patterns that they can see in the jumps,” Blackwell explained.
No matter how it’s achieved, the quad is now critical in men’s competition, and it will surely be on display during the Milano Cortina Games.
Goebel said it was crucial to his bronze medal win.
“For me, in 2002, it was no quad, no medal, full stop,” he said.
And now?
“No quad, no top ten!” Goebel laughed. “The standard has risen from 2002, and I think that’s overwhelmingly a positive.”
When asked how he feels about how far it could go, though, Goebel was measured.
“I think that’s the exciting part about sport and about the whole Olympic movement,” he said. “But I think we’re close to that bound of like, tapping out the human ability.”
AJ McLean is a friend Britney Spears can lean on during her tough time amid ongoing legal woes after her DUI arrest.
The Backstreet Boys member, 48, spoke in support of Spears during the iHeartRadio Music Awards 2026, as he revealed that they are also neighbours.
“We see each other every so often,” McLean said, adding, “live in the same neighborhood in the same area.”
The singer, who was nominated for the favourite onscreen category at the awards, noted that he “always just give[s] her a hug and check[s] on her” whenever he runs into the pop icon, in conversation with Page Six.
The Everybody hitmaker also added that he wishes “her the best,” without mentioning the arrest. When asked if he has spoken to her recently, he told the outlet that he hasn’t.
This comes after Spears was arrested in Ventura County, California earlier this month after she as caught swerving and speeding allegedly under the influence.
She was later released in the morning and her manager Cade Hudson released an official statement saying her actions were “inexcusable.”
While the Toxic songstress has not addressed the situation herself, an insider spilled that she is devastated and scared beyond measure for what the consequences would be.
Britney Spears is right now trying really hard to get her life back on track after her recent shocking DUI arrest earlier this month.
The singer, 44, stayed away from alcohol for more than three weeks and is now regularly attending AA meetings in Los Angeles.
According to a source, Britney has been very open during these sessions, “Britney has been very open and honest in her AA meetings, she has said she loves pouring her heart out as she knows that is the best way to heal and feel better,” the insider shared.
They also added that she is being careful and focused on things which matters, saying: “The only thing she has indulged in is fancy coffee drinks. She is being super careful because she wants to be there for her kids.”
Britney is said to be spending time with her two sons more now, Sean Preston and Jayden James, who have been close to her in recent weeks.
Their presence, however, meant a lot to the music icon as she works through this phase.
The Toxic singer’s arrest happened on March 3 and she is expected to appear in court on May 4.
Britney’s team already said that she wants to take the right steps and move forward in a better way.
Liza Morales, Lamar Odom’s high school sweetheart, finally spoke out about the moment she found out that her ex got married to the reality star Khloé Kardashian.
“It was shocking. I couldn’t escape it,” Morales told PEOPLE.
She opened up just days before Netflix releases Untold: The Death & Life of Lamar Odom, a documentary about the basketball star’s life, fame, struggles and relationships.
A big part of the film looks back on his early romance with Morales.
The couple met in high school and Odom proposed to her when they were just 20 and they delayed marriage but went on to have three children together.
But tragedy happened in 2006 when their six-month-old son Jayden died from sudden terrifying syndrome.
The loss, however, left a heavy effect on their relationship and slowly, they went their separate ways.
The fashion designer went on to add that she was blindsided when Odom’s relationship with Khloé Kardashian became public in 2009.
“It was a text message and then a phone call from Lamar, ‘By the way, I’m getting married,’” she recalled.
“Then it was everywhere. It wasn’t just that he got married—it was how it happened. It was rushed, and it hurt.”
Still, Morales shared that she and Odom have reached to a better place now. “It took years. I had to work on myself and heal.”
Backstreet Boys AJ McLean shows support to Britney Spears after DUI arrest
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Britney Spears turns a new page after recent legal trauma
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