The Lutz is a figure skating jump named after Alois Lutz, an Austrian skater. It is a toe-pick 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]
| Figure skating element | |
|---|---|
| Element name | Lutz jump |
| Scoring abbreviation | Lz |
| Element type | Jump |
| Take-off edge | Back outside |
| Landing edge | Back outside |
| Inventor | Alois Lutz |
History
editThe Lutz jump is named after figure skater Alois Lutz from Vienna, Austria,[2] who may have first performed it in 1913,[3] though historian Matthias Hampe did not find contemporary sources that referenced the jump before the 1920s, after Lutz's death.[4] Maribel Vinson wrote that it was rare in North America before 1930.[5]
In competitions, points are awarded based on the number of rotations completed during the jump. The base value of a successful single Lutz is 0.6 points, a double Lutz is 2.1 points, a triple Lutz is 5.9 points, a quadruple Lutz is 11.5 points, and a quintuple Lutz is 14 points.[6]
Firsts
edit| Abbr. | Jump Element | Skater | Nation | Event | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2Lz | Double Lutz (women's) | Jacqueline du Bief |  France | 1952 World Championships | [7] |
| 3Lz | Triple Lutz (men's) | Donald Jackson |  Canada | 1962 World Championships | [3] |
| Triple Lutz (women's) | Denise Biellmann |  Switzerland | 1978 European Championships | [8] | |
| 4Lz | Quadruple Lutz (men's) | Brandon Mroz |  United States | 2011 Colorado Springs Invitational 2011 NHK Trophy | [3][9] |
| Quadruple Lutz (women's) | Alexandra Trusova |  Russia | 2018 ISU Junior Grand Prix Armenia Cup | [8] | |
| Side-by-side triple Lutz (pairs) | Meagan Duhamel and Ryan Arnold | Canada | 2005 Canadian Championships | [10] |
Execution
editThe International Skating Union (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: 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.[2][11] A "cheated" Lutz jump without an outside edge is called a "flutz".[2]
Gallery
edit
Semen Daniliants prepares a Lutz take-off
Wesley Chiu hits the ice with his right toe pick as his left blade remains on an outside edge
Jamal Othman landing
Videos
edit- Ekaterina Kurakova performing a triple Lutz jump (real-time and slow motion)
- Kévin Aymoz performing a triple Lutz jump (real-time and slow motion)
- Rinka Watanabe performing a triple Lutz jump (real-time and slow motion)
- Adam Siao Him Fa performing a triple Lutz jump
References
edit- ↑ Park, Alice (22 February 2018). "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Figure Skating Jumps and Scores". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 September 2025. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 "Identifying Jumps" (PDF). U.S. Figure Skating. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 Media guide 2025, p. 20.
- ↑ Hampe, Matthias (August 2022). "Eislaufgeschichte: Neuentdeckungen über Alois Lutz" [Ice Skating History: New Discoveries about Alois Lutz]. Pirouette (in German). pp. 30–31.
- ↑ Vinson, Maribel (1940). Advanced Figure Skating. Whittlesey House. p. 275.
- ↑ "Communication No. 2707: Single & Pair Skating Scale of Values (ISU No. 2707)" (PDF). International Skating Union. pp. 2–4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 May 2025. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
- ↑ "Jacqueline du Bief: Biography". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 23 February 2025. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
- 1 2 Media guide 2025, p. 21.
- ↑ Media guide, p. 21
- ↑ "Pairs: Meagan Duhamel/Ryan Arnold". International Skating Union. 29 July 2007. Archived from the original on 15 June 2025. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
- ↑ Abad-Santos, Alexander (5 February 2014). "A GIF Guide to Figure Skaters' Jumps at the Olympics". The Atlantic. ISSN 2151-9463. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
Works cited
edit- "ISU Figure Skating Media Guide 2025/26" (PDF). Lausanne, Switzerland: International Skating Union. 21 August 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 September 2025. Retrieved 18 February 2026.