For decades, it was considered the holy grail of figure skating, a jump so difficult, so daring, so completely defiant of the laws of physics that nobody would ever land it—until the quadruple axel was conquered by a young American who calls himself the Quad God. His real name is Ilia Malinin. And that name is everywhere this Olympics. The 21-year old from Northern Virginia comes into the Milan Cortina Olympics as one of Team USA’s biggest stars. Since mastering the quad axel, he has continued t

One of the most anticipated events at the Winter Olympics, figure skating dazzles audiences with daring jumps, dizzying spins and glamorous costumes. The artistry and athleticism of the modern-day sport, however, bears little resemblance to its origins when skaters diligently traced geometric patterns—or “figures”—on the ice. The first organized figure skating club—which formed in the 1740s in Edinburgh, Scotland—required new members to pass an entrance test in which they completed a circle with