What is a triple axel?

It is almost certainly something that you should not try.

Even to skaters competing at the Olympic Games, the triple axel is often relegated to the realm of the aspirational: a jump, after a forward-facing takeoff, that involves three and a half rotations. (The axel is the only jump in which skaters leave the ice facing forward.)

It was only in 2018 that Mirai Nagasu became the first American woman to complete a triple axel at a Games; she was just the eighth woman to land one in competition, underscoring the rarity of the technique over the years.

But seven women penciled in tries for Tuesday’s short program, including Kamila Valieva and Alysa Liu, a 16-year-old American skater who is competing at her first Olympics.

The night’s first attempt, by Anastasiia Shabotova of Ukraine, failed: She wound up sliding into the boards that surround the rink.

The short program rules for Olympic competition require that women try either a double axel, which involves two and a half rotations, or a triple.