One of the youngest female figure skating competitors in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing became the first woman to ever land a quad jump and went on to become the first to land two of them.
Kamila Valieva, a 15-year-old skating for the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), made history on Monday in Beijing by landing a quadruple Salchow–which involves four complete revolutions in the air.
You can see the moment here.
Not only did she make history by landing the jump, but she also became the first woman to land the quad twice in the women's free skate of the team final event.
Valieva's routine skating to Ravel's "Bolero" had three quad jumps.
She landed the first two but fell on her third, a quad toe loop.
A single toe loop involves a backward jump taking off from the outside edge of a skate followed by a rotation in the air and landing on the outside edge of the same skate.
Despite her stumble on the third quad jump, Valieva's historic display won the free skate with a score of 178.92–beating Japan's second-place finisher Kaori Sakamoto by 30 points.
The ROC's team total came to 74 points–its second gold at the Beijing Games.
The USA scored 65 points–earning its first silver medal in the event–and Japan took home the bronze with 63 points.
The teen competitor told reporters:
"It's been quite overwhelming. I was very nervous, but I am just glad I was able to execute all of my elements well."
"To perform with a team like this means everything. We all did such a good job. I'm very proud of my team."
Valieva already made history in the Games this weekend during the women's short program.
She scored 90.18 points while being only the fourth woman to ever land a triple axel at the Winter Olympics.
Her performance was just short of her world record of 90.45 points set at the European Championships in Estonia last month.
Valieva, who only made her senior debut last year, said:
"I am more than happy. This is a fantastic feeling. I had a burden of responsibility, but I came out a winner. I do feel this burden a bit and this pressure."
She added:
"This is my first season among adult skaters and I believe I am coping with this pressure; sometimes it even pushes me forward and helps me."
Liam McBurney/PA Images via Getty Images
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