Alysa Liu delivers the US its first women’s figure skating world championship in nearly 2 decades
BOSTON (AP) — Alysa Liu became the first American women’s figure skating world champion in nearly two decades Friday night, dethroning three-time defending champion Kaori Sakamoto with a brilliant free skate that earned her a standing ovation inside TD Garden.
With her gold dress shimmering in the lights, Liu landed all of her jumping passes to a rendition of “MacArthur Park” by Boston native Donna Summer, and finished with 222.97 points to culminate a remarkable comeback from a two-year retirement.
As the 19-year-old Liu’s score was read, the sellout crowd roared and her coaches, Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali, pulled her into a hug. Moments later, Sakamoto came over and squeezed her tightly, as if Japan’s hero was passing Liu the torch as the first world champion from the U.S. since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium in 2006.
“What the hell?” Liu asked in disbelief. “I don’t know. I don’t know how to process this.”
Sakamoto finished with 217.98 points to add a silver medal to her three previous golds. Her Japanese teammate, Mone Chiba, was third with 215.24 points while Isabeau Levito and Amber Glenn gave the Americans three of the top five.
Liu was once considered the sport’s rising star, the youngest-ever U.S. champ when she triumphed at the age of 13 in 2019, and then defended her title the following year. She fulfilled a childhood ambition by qualifying for the Olympics, finishing sixth at the 2022 Beijing Games, and earned a bronze medal at the world championships that year.
Then she stepped away. Liu decided that skating had become less joy and more of a job, and she wanted to focus on being a normal student. It wasn’t until she went on a skiing trip and felt the rush of competition — albit a much different way, and with far lower stakes — that she began to think about a comeback. And early last year, she made it official on social media.
The road was bumpy, to be sure, but a big step was her second-place finish to Glenn at the U.S. championships.
She took the last step up on the podium Friday night.
Earlier in the night, American ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates built a big cushion as they chase their third consecutive title, scoring a season-best 90.18 points for their rhythm dance to lead Canadian rivals Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.
Gilles and Poirier scored 86.44 points to their dance, set to music from The Beach Boys. They held the lead only long enough for the U.S. duo to finish their “tour of the decades” program, which earned them a raucous ovation inside TD Garden.
The International Skating Union chose the theme this season of social dances and styles of the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s. But while some skaters picked one — the Watusi, the Madison or disco — Chock and Bates threw it all into their rollicking showcase.
“It was probably the most fun I’ve had thus far on competitive ice in a performance, maybe ever,” Chock said. “It was really a joy to perform in front of a home crowd and share that excitement with Evan. It was the best.”
Now, Chock and Bates will try to finish off the first three-peat since Russia’s Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov in the 1990s.
“That’s a tough amount of points to catch up on,” Poirier admitted, “but we also know that sport is really unpredictable.”
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