History
The origin of the flip jump is unknown, although American professional figure skater Bruce Mapes might have created it. [1] Gustave Lussi claimed that he and his student Montgomery Wilson invented it. [3] The jump was sometimes called the Wilson in Canada and the Mapes in the United States after Mapes's wife, Evelyn Chandler Mapes, who popularized the jump there. [4]
Writer Ellyn Kestnbaum calls the jump "somewhat trickier than the loop for most skaters. considerably more so than the salchow or toe loop", [5] because of its unstable inside edge and the precision required to align and time the jump's vault from the toepick. [5] As a consequence, quadruple flip jumps are, as ESPN puts it, "rare". [6] Kestnbaum also states that it is crucial that the skater's edge not be too deep, but instead almost forms a straight line. [7]
Variations of the flip jump include the half flip and the split flip. The half flip is often used as a simple transitional movement during a step sequence and as a takeoff for other half jumps. A split flip is a single flip jump with a split position at the peak of the skater's position in the air. [5] There is no record of the first male skater to perform the triple flip. [1]
In competitions, the base value of a single flip is 0.50; the base value of a double flip is 1.80; the base value of a triple flip is 5.30; the base value of a quadruple flip is 11.00; and the base value of a quintuple flip is 14. [8]
Firsts
| Abbr. | Jump element | Skater | Nation | Event | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3F | Triple flip (women's) | Katarina Witt |  East Germany | 1981 European Championships | [1] |
| Triple flip (women's) | Manuela Ruben |  Germany | |||
| 4F | Quadruple flip (men's) | Shoma Uno |  Japan | 2016 Team Challenge Cup | [9] [10] |
| Quadruple flip (women's) | Alexandra Trusova |  Russia | 2019–20 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final | [9] [11] |
