Figure skating element
Element nameLutz jump
Scoring abbreviationLz
Element typeJump
Take-off edgeBack outside
Landing edgeBack outside
InventorAlois Lutz

The Lutz is a figure skating jump, named after Alois Lutz, an Austrian skater who performed it in 1913. It is a toepick-assisted jump with an entrance from a back outside edge and landing on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. It is the second-most difficult jump in figure skating[1] and "probably the second-most famous jump after the Axel".[2]

History

The Lutz jump is named after figure skater Alois Lutz from Vienna, Austria, who first performed it in 1913.[2][3] In competitions, points are awarded based on the number of rotations completed during the jump. The base value of a successful single Lutz is 0.60, a double Lutz 2.10, a triple Lutz 5.90; and a quadruple Lutz 11.50.[4]

Firsts

Abbr. Jump Element Skater Nation Event References
2Lz Double Lutz (women's) Alena Vrzáňová[a]  Czechoslovakia 1949 World Championships [5]
3Lz Triple Lutz (men's) Donald Jackson  Canada 1962 World Championships [3]
Triple Lutz (women's) Denise Biellman   Switzerland 1978 European Championships [3]
4Lz Quadruple Lutz (men's) Brandon Mroz  United States 2011 Colorado Springs Invitational
2011 NHK Trophy		 [6]
Quadruple Lutz (women's) Alexandra Trusova  Russia 2018 ISU Junior Grand Prix Armenia Cup [3]
4Lz+3T Quadruple Lutz-triple toe loop combination Boyang Jin  China 2015 Cup of China [3]
Side-by-side triple Lutz (pairs) Meagan Duhamel and
Ryan Arnold		  Canada 2005 Canadian Championships [7]

Execution

The ISU defines the Lutz jump as "a toe-pick assisted jump with an entrance from a back outside edge and landing on the back outside edge of the opposite foot".[3] Skaters tend to go into it with a long, diagonal take-off into one of the corners of the rink. It is a difficult jump because it is counter-rotational, which means that the skater sets it up by twisting in one way and jumping in the other. Many skaters "cheat" the jump because they are not strong enough to maintain the counter-rotational edge, resulting in taking off from the wrong edge.[8] A "cheated" Lutz jump without an outside edge is called a "flutz".[2]

Footnotes

  1. ^ According to https://olympics.com/en/athletes/jacqueline-du-bief, Jacqueline du Bief, in 1952, was the first woman to do a double Lutz in international competition, but it was a controversial win, and she later wrote in her book Thin Ice, that American Sonya Klopfer deserved the title.

References

  1. ^ Park, Alice (22 February 2018). "How to Tell the Difference Between the 6 Figure Skating Jumps You'll See at the Olympics". Time Magazine. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Identifying Jumps" (PDF). U.S. Figure Skating. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "ISU Figure Skating Media Guide 2023/24". 20 September 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  4. ^ "ISU Communication 2475 Single and Pair Skating 2022-24". Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  5. ^ Elliott, Helene (13 March 2009). "Brian Orser Heads List of World Figure Skating Hall of Fame inductees". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  6. ^ Sarkar, Pritha; Fallon, Clare (28 March 2017). "Figure Skating – Breakdown of Quadruple Jumps, Highest Scores and Judging". Reuters. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Pairs: Meagan Duhamel/Ryan Arnold". International Skating Union. 29 July 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  8. ^ Abad-Santos, Alexander (5 February 2014). "A GIF Guide to Figure Skaters' Jumps at the Olympics". The Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved 9 October 2022.

Works cited

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