Boston – With her golden outfit glistening in the TD Garden lights, Alysa Liu skated around the ice in shock, and the cheering cheers of a sold-out crowd reminded her why she had come back to the sport after a nearly two-year hiatus. The 19-year-old from Clovis, California, made history when her score was ultimately announced.
With a spectacular free skate on Friday night, Liu defeated three-time defending champion Kaori Sakamoto to become the first American women’s figure skating world champion in almost 20 years. Liu received a standing ovation for her performance of “MacArthur Park” by Boston native Donna Summer, which helped her finish with 222.97 points.
“I mean, it means so much to me and everything I’ve been through,” Liu replied. “I suppose I’m really happy about my final skating experience, my vacation, and this time around. For the most part, I’m happy that I was able to give two of my best performances.
In the “kiss-and-cry area” of the arena, Liu was embraced by her coaches, Massimo Scali and Phillip DiGuglielmo. Shortly after, Sakamoto approached her from the leader’s chair where she had been watching and gave her a firm squeeze, as though Japan’s hero were handing Liu the title of the first American world champion since Kimmie Meissner topped the podium in 2006.
“What the hell?” Liu questioned incredulously. “I’m not sure. I’m not sure how to handle this.”
Sakamoto added a silver medal to her three golds with a final score of 217.98 points. Isabeau Levito and Amber Glenn gave the Americans three of the top five, while Mone Chiba, a Japanese teammate, finished third with 215.24 points.
The statement “We are all so strong,” Levito continued, “and we are all such fighters, and we all have our strengths, and we are all so different, but we are all so sweet to each other.” These are my fellow Team USA skaters, and I’m very happy about it.”
When Liu won at the age of 13 in 2019 and defended her title the following year, she was regarded as the sport’s rising star and the youngest-ever U.S. champion. She qualified for the Olympics, placed sixth at the 2022 Beijing Games, and won a bronze medal at the world championships that year, fulfilling a lifelong dream.
She then took a step back. Liu made the decision that she wanted to concentrate on being a typical college student and that skating had turned into more of a job than a hobby. She didn’t start considering a comeback until she went on a ski trip and experienced the thrill of competition, albeit in a very different setting and with much lesser stakes.
She made it official with a mysterious social media post early last year. Liu’s second-place result to Glenn in the U.S. championships was a significant stride forward, even though the road back in a sport that is known for its erratic behavior was undoubtedly rocky.
On Friday night, she stepped up to the podium for the final time.
“This was unexpected. “I had no expectations going in,” Liu remarked. “I never longer enter competitions with any preconceived notions. ‘What can I put out performance-wise?’ is more important. I truly lived up to my expectations.
She departed with awe and admiration for Sakamoto, the former champion.
“She went away and now she’s back, and the world champion,” Sakamoto stated. “She hasn’t changed, in my opinion. She reached the top of the podium thanks to her friendliness, cheerfulness, and unwavering happiness.
In their pursuit of their third consecutive title, American ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates established a significant lead earlier in the evening. They outscored Canadian competitors Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier with a season-high 90.18 points for their rhythm dance.
The Beach Boys provided the music for Gilles and Poirier’s dance, which earned them 86.44 points. They just managed to maintain the lead long enough for the American duet to complete their “tour of the decades” program, which was met with a thunderous applause inside TD Garden.
This season, the International Skating Union decided to focus on social dances and styles from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Some skaters chose the Watusi, Madison, or disco, but Chock and Bates put everything into their exciting display.
“It was probably the most fun I’ve had thus far on competitive ice in a performance, maybe ever,” Chock stated. “Performing in front of a home audience and sharing that thrill with Evan was truly a pleasure. It was the greatest.
The first three-peat since Russia’s Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov in the 1990s will now be attempted by Chock and Bates.
“That’s a tough amount of points to catch up on,” conceded Poirier, “but we also know that sport is really unpredictable.”
