BOSTON — It was once prophesied how Alysa Liu would return glory to U.S. women’s figure skating.
At 13 years old, she became the youngest woman to win the U.S. championships, back in 2019. A prodigy was born. The bubbly girl from Oakland, Calif., with talent larger than her frame and a smile warm enough to soften the ice, was on her way to the top. In 2020, before the world shut down, she defended her U.S. title. By 14, she was anointed the future.
But at 15, she finished fourth in the U.S. championships, failing to three-peat. At 16, while displaying poise unbecoming of her age, she finished sixth in a Beijing Winter Games dominated by the Russians. Then, following a bronze medal at the world championships, she announced her retirement in April 2022. Burnt out in the pursuit of perfection, she declared her happiness, life outside of skates, was more important.
Shy of three years later, now at 19, Liu is fulfilling the portent she inspired. On Friday, she captured her first world championship, breaking America’s 19-year gold medal drought. After a two-plus year retirement from the sport.
“I tried to talk her out of it,” Liu’s coach, Phillip DiGuglielmo, said. “Nobody’s done this. Nobody walks away and comes back.”
But Liu has come back even better. Her excellence…
