Seven months after leaving for retirement, Alysa Liu pulled off a stunningly successful return to competitive figure skating. On an unusually warm Friday evening in Boston, she secured the world championship title. This victory has made history in many ways. As a result, Liu has now become the first American woman in almost two decades to win the highly coveted competition away from the Olympics. Yet her gold medal performance dazzled the sold-out crowd at TD Garden with its technical mastery and artistic grace. In doing so, she dethroned Japan’s three-time defending champ Kaori Sakamoto.
Liu’s routine was nothing short of spectacular. Skating to Summer’s disco epic “MacArthur Park Suite,” she nailed six triple jumps cleanly, three of them in combination. Importantly, she was the only competitor to try and land the triple Axel, which she did, as well, in her free skate. The detail of her technical skill and freedom of her artistic expression burst through. She had a phenomenal combined time of 222.97 points, winning the gold medal.
As the first U.S. women’s singles skater to win the world title since Kimmie Meissner in 2006, Liu’s victory is significant. In addition, she became just the second American to win any medal in this race since then. Her ecstatic home crowd then broke into a prolonged standing ovation at her achievement. They gasped in disbelief as she hit every jump clear.
Liu finished her performance and walked to the kiss-and-cry area, her face a mix of disbelief and jubilation. Her club coaches — Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali — enveloped her in a giant bear hug.
“I don’t know. I don’t know how to process this.” – Liu
Liu’s road to this victory was not without bumps. She withdrew from the competitive rink altogether for close to two years. This decision follows her sudden retirement in the spring, immediately following her winning a bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships. Fatigue and burnout led her to make this tough decision after previously making headlines as the youngest-ever U.S. national champion at age 13 in 2019, a feat she repeated the following year.
She came back to the sport, she says, to remember what she loved about skating. It wasn’t about going after medals, to her. That decision looks to have been a capital one. She characterized this season as a “starter season,” noting that it was all about the rebuild—not the pursuit of an instant contender.
“That’s why I call this a starter season because this season is me picking up the pieces. So I don’t know how I just did this.” – Liu
Alysa Liu’s victory is not just the culmination of a dream come true for her — it’s a watershed moment for American figure skating. Her own comeback story has proved inspirational to many, embodying proof that resilience and passion can change everything. There was Liu, filled with joy and confidence, standing high on the podium. Her journey from youthful phenom to consummate world champion had returned home.