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Which figure-skating jumps are edge jumps?
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figure skating
Katarina Witt, competing for East Germany, became the first woman since Norway's Sonja Henie (1928, 1932, and 1936) to win consecutive Olympic gold medals, doing so in 1984 and 1988.
In figure skating, jumps are categorized based on their takeoff technique. Edge jumps are those in which a skater uses the edge of one skate blade to propel themselves into the air without the other skate touching the ice.12
The three jumps classified as edge jumps are:
- Axel: The only jump that requires the skater to take off while moving forward.12
- Loop: A jump that begins and ends on the same foot while moving backward.1
- Salchow: A jump typically performed by turning from a forward-moving position to a backward-moving one, taking off from one foot, and landing on the opposite foot.1
In contrast, toe jumps—which include the flip, lutz, and toe loop—are distinguished by the skater using their toe pick to assist in the launch.12