Although
Margot Robbie trained extensively for the role, she was not able to perform a triple axel, nor could a skating double be found to do so, as very few women figure skaters are able to perform the jump. Producer
Tom Ackerley stated, "There have been only six women since
Tonya Harding who have done a triple axel; even if there was one who was doing it today, she'd be training for the Olympics and couldn't risk doing it for the film." The jump was accomplished with the use of visual effects.
Note: whilst Ackerley did not give names, this skater may have likely been
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, who became the first female to land four triple jumps in a short program (triple Axel, triple Lutz, and a triple toe-triple toe combination) at the 2015 Worlds; ultimately, she was not picked for the 2018 Olympics. Besides them, the other six to accomplish this in competition by the time of filming was
Midori Ito (1988 NHK Trophy) and the first at the Olympics (1992); Ludmila Nelidina, the first European and Yukari Nakano at 2002 Skate America;
Kimmie Meissner, the second American at the 2005 U.S. Championships;
Mao Asada at the 2004-05 Junior Grand Prix Final, the second at the Olympics (2010 and 2014); Rika Kihira at the 2016 JGP Ljubljana, she also became the first to land a triple Axel combination (triple Axel-triple toe) in an ISU international event at the 2017-18 Junior Grand Prix Final. Before the release of the film.
Mirai Nagasu achieved her's at the 2017 CS U.S. Classic and becoming the third and the first American to do so at the Olympics (in 2018).