This may be the only thing I post about the 2022 Winter Olympics. Many skaters attempt the Biellmann spin (details here), but hardly any do it well, because they lack the flexibility needed to get the leg straight up, and it doesn’t look as good when they don’t. I would rate it as the most challenging spin in women’s skating. It’s named for Swiss skater Denise Biellmann (profile here), who popularized it in the 1980s, and her execution of it is the benchmark against which all others are compared; as far as I know, no one has ever done it better. Watch her do it at the 4:15 mark in the first video below. Then watch U.S. skater Isabeau Levito do it at the 3:10 mark in the second video below. I’m not a skating judge, only a longtime spectator of the sport, but I think it’s as good. Today’s skating is dominated by jumps, and spins don’t make or break a competition score, but they’re more fun to watch. You don’t see many skaters who can both jump and do gorgeous spins, but here, at least, Levito does both well. Read more about her here.