Alysa Liu closes strong; snags Skate America title
2025 Skate America: Women’s Figure Skating
USA’s Alysa Liu rose from second to capture the gold in the Women’s discipline at Skate America on Sunday. Rinka Watanabe of Japan slipped to second, while Georgia’s Anastasiia Gubanova moved up a spot to claim the bronze.
Alysa Liu
Liu mesmerized the audience with her moving short program to “Promise” by Laufey. The 2025 World champion landed a very good triple flip and double Axel, but underrotated the back end of a triple Lutz-triple loop. Nevertheless, all three spins and footwork were graded a level four, with the layback receiving no less than +4 grades of execution (GOE). She had the highest program component score of the group, and placed second with 73.73 points.
“I feel really good with that skate,” said the 20-year-old. “I think I also feel good because I have my friend out in the audience, so that gives me some extra energy. The Lutz-loop probably could have been better.”
When asked how she keeps the program fresh, Liu said: “I guess it just always feels fresh because it’s a pretty timeless program. I feel like it explains my life very well. I don’t really separate my life into chapters, I just have my life. Of course, there’s eras, but I’m still in the same era as last season. I think that’s why I still feel connected to it. Honestly, I can’t imagine not being connected to it. It’s just so like me now.”
Skating to “MacArthur Park Suite” by Donna Summer, the 2025 Cup of China silver medalist executed six solid triple jumps. She underrotated the back end of a triple Lutz-triple toe, as well as a double Axel, but picked up a level four on all spins and footwork in her energetic routine. She placed first in the free skate with a new season’s best of 140.54, and with a total score of 214.27, finished first overall.
“Whether I’m on the podium or not, I’m glad that I was able to take that stage and perform,” Liu said after the free skate. “Although, I do wish I performed a little bit better; there were a few things that I would definitely elevate. But I’m just really glad that my devotion to creation has led me to this point. I didn’t like how my jumps were today, but I tied my skates a little bit too tight when I went out there. I kind of do things like last minute.”
With 28 points from her two events, Liu has qualified for the Grand Prix Final next month.
“I do really want to have my Gaga program ready for that,” she said. “But if it’s not fully ready, I don’t want to do it. We’ve been working on the choreography because we have a pretty good blueprint of the music. So choreography is basically done, but as for the whole concept, not quite.”
Rinka Watanabe
Watanabe gave a near-flawless short program to “El Tango De Roxanne” from Moulin Rouge! which included a solid triple Axel. The 2024 Four Continents bronze medalist slightly underrotated the back end of a triple Lutz-triple toe, but the triple loop was clean. All spins and footwork garnered a level four, and she scored a new personal best of 74.35 points for first place going into the free skate.
“I was able to put out what I do in practice, so I’m happy about that,” said Watanabe. “I haven’t been in first place at the short very often. It’s probably like the first time in my entire life that I’m going into the free as the leader. After I arrived in America, I decided not to think about that (the Final) too much, just to focus on what I can do, putting out my best and ending the program with a smile.”
On landing the triple Axel, the skater said, “it’s all about repetition. The more you do it, the better it is. Maybe some physical training, psychological aspects. A lot of that comes together, and that’s probably why it’s a lot more consistent right now. It’s also the fifth year since I started putting in the triple Axel in my programs.”
The 2025 Cup of China bronze medalist opened her free skate to “Jin” with a solid triple Axel-triple toe and triple flip, but underrotated and stepped out of the second triple Axel attempt. She received a “q” on the front end of a triple Lutz-double Axel sequence, and later underrotated a triple Lutz and a triple Salchow (in combination with a double Axel-Euler). However, all spins and footwork were graded a level four, and she place third in this segment with 136.61 points. With a total score of 210.96, Watanabe slipped to second place overall.
“This is the second year in a row that I came second at Skate America,” the 23-year-old pointed out. “I’m a bit relieved that I wasn’t too bad. However, my qualification for the Final has not been decided yet, and I am a bit frustrated about my results. But I did what I could, and I’m happy about that. ”
“As you know, the field in Japan, and also the U.S. but especially in Japan, the field is very, very deep,” Watanabe added. “I would say the top 12 skaters in Japanese nationals would have no problem competing in international competitions. There are a few skaters or a lot of skaters doing triple Axels and quads as juniors, but there aren’t that many on the senior level. I kind of want to change that. So the triple Axel is a source of pride for me. I’m doing it because I want to.
Watanabe will compete again next week at Finlandia Trophy whereafter the six top skaters will qualify for the Grand Prix Final.
“I don’t know if my next competition is going to be nationals or if it’s going to be the Final,” said Watanabe. “But regardless of whichever it is, I want to do the best that I can and whatever results from that, I hope that it could lead to future dreams coming true.”
Anastasiia Gubanova
Gubanova placed fourth with 68.07 points. The three-time European medalist looked confident in her energetic routine, landing a triple flip-triple flip, double Axel and triple Lutz. The latter jump received a “q” for being slightly underrotated, but two spins were rewarded a level four.
“I feel good about my program,” said the 22-year-old. “Well, I got a ‘q’ on the Lutz. I really hope that one day I’ll get 70 points for the short program. I’ve been training as usual since the Cup of China, and everything has been going well.”
Gubanova delivered a graceful and elegant free skate to music from Ghost (The Musical) which featured six clean triple jumps, including a triple flip-triple toe. The front end of a triple flip-double toe was underrotated as was a double Axel, but all spins and footwork were graded a level four. She finished second in the free skate and third overall (136.62/204.69).
“This medal means a lot to me because all these past seasons, for some reason, I didn’t skate so well at the Grand Prix,” said the six-time Challenger Series medalist. “But finally everything here went well, so I’m really happy. After I completed successfully my two Grand Prix events, I am really motivated to work even harder. Not only on the jumps, but also on the spins and on the footwork so that everything is level four as this is really important. I also want to do more run-throughs of my program so it will be easier to skate even when there is jet lag. And now I just want to rest a little bit and my next competition will be the European Championships.”
Lara Naki Gutmann
Lara Naki Gutmann of Italy reeled off a triple toe-triple toe, double Axel and triple Lutz in her short program to La legge di Lidia Poët. All three spins were graded a level four and she earned positive GOEs in all elements, placing third with a personal best score of 69.69.
“I think the crowd was amazing and I really liked to skate my program,” said Gutmann. “Maybe a few spins could be better, but I really enjoyed skating today.”
The 22-year-old is also enjoying skating in the Olympic arena in Lake Placid.
“It’s amazing that we can skate here, and actually today after my training, I got to see the Olympic Museum. That’s been really nice and interesting. I like the snow, I like the atmosphere here.”
The four-time Challenger series medalist placed fourth (134.60) in the free skate with her innovative routine to music from Jaws. She landed a total of six solid triple jumps, including a triple Lutz-Euler-triple Salchow and triple toe-double Axel sequence. All spins were graded a level four, and she placed fourth overall with a personal best total score of 204.29.
This was a solo event for USA’s Starr Andrews who will competing in the Pairs division next season. She gave two good programs at this event, placing fifth overall with a total personal best score of 195.28.
South Korea’s Chaeyeon Kim placed sixth overall (188.22), followed by Lea Serna of France (175.05).
Related Info:
The post Alysa Liu closes strong; snags Skate America title appeared first on Golden Skate.