A forward-facing jump invented by Norwegian Axel Paulson. On a pair of speed skates, Paulson first executed the jump in 1882. The axel is the only jump in which skaters take off from a forward outside edge. The skater rotates one-and-a-half times in the air for a single axel -- two-and-a-half times for a double, and so on -- before landing on the back outside edge of the opposite foot from which they took off.

Named for Axel Paulson, the 1908 Gold Medalist who invented it, this is a jump on which the skater takes off from the forward inside edge and lands on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. There are single, double, and triple versions.

a turning jump

figure skating move that involves spinning and jumping at the same time

The most difficult jump in figure skating is named for its inventor, Axel Paulsen, a Norwegian speed skating champion who became famous as an exhibition and trick skater. Executing the Axel jump, a skater takes off from an outside edge while skating forward, turns one-and-a-half times in the air (540 degrees), and lands on the back outside edge of the other skate. A double Axel has 900 degrees revolution and a triple has 1,260 degrees revolution.