Quad (figure skating)
A quad, or quadruple, is a figure skating jump with at least three but less than four revolutions. Most quadruple jumps have 3 1/2 revolutions; the quadruple Axel has 4 1/2 revolutions, although no figure skater to date has completed this jump in competition. The quadruple toe loop and quadruple Salchow are the two most commonly skated in the discipline. Quadruple jumps have become increasingly common among World and Olympic level men's single skaters, to the point that not having one in a program has come to be seen as a severe handicap. The first person to land a ratified quadruple jump in competition was Canadian Kurt Browning in 1988. In 2002, Miki Ando became the first woman to do so, and she remains one of only two women to have landed a ratified quadruple jump in competition.
1948 Winter Olympics
Eighteen-year-old American Dick Button completed the unprecedented North American sweep of the figure skating gold medals. He led the field after the compulsory skate and then won the gold medal by becoming the first person to ever complete a double axel in competition. Later in the 1952 Olympics, Dick Button would win gold a second time. His victory came at the expense of Swiss world champion Hans Gerschwiler who fell during the free skate. Despite the mishap Gershwiler would win the silver medal.