American Alysa Liu, after two years away from figure skating, wins gold at worlds

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 beyond 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 in both the short program and the free skate likely etches her name in the American contingency for the Winter Olympics in just shy of 11 months. U.S. Figure Skating can take whichever three women it chooses to Milan, regardless of how they finished in these worlds. But Liu punctuated her case with a display of her maturation as a woman and a skater.

To come out of retirement, step onto the bright stage of the world championships and perform like she did — so consistently and with a command that felt effortless — repositions her as a candidate for the first American woman to win Olympic singles gold in 24 years.

“What the hell? What the hell? What the hell?”

That’s what Liu said was going through her mind when it was over. Fate tends to feel surreal.

“I never have expectations coming into competitions anymore,” she said. “It’s more of what I can put out performance-wise, and I really met my expectations on that part today.”

The true essence of what was revealed at TD Garden lies in how the history unfolded. The grand finale to the women’s singles had the sellout crowd riveted. Amber Glenn, the American favorite, opened the gauntlet of greatness with a statement performance. It was a display of defiance. Having reminded the world she’s mortal with a fall in the short program on Wednesday, Glenn was determined in Friday’s free skate to remind of how she can be otherworldly.

Glenn, the 16th of 24 skaters, reestablished herself as a force for the United States with an emphatic bounce-back performance. She nailed her elements, delivered the intensity, willed herself back to the skater who’s dominated all year. She scored a 138.00 on her free skate, vaulting her into first place at the time with a total score of 205.65.

Then, three-time defending world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan one-upped Glenn with an emphatic declaration of her brilliance, after an underwhelming showing in the short program. She brought the house down with “All that Jazz” from Chicago, dressed in all black to fit the vibe of the popular musical. She zipped around the rink with the showmanship of a champion, landing triples to the beat and feeding off the arena’s energy. And when she was done, she let it all out — with yells and fist pumps. She usurped Glenn at No. 1. A new bar was set: 217.98.

American Isabeau Levito couldn’t clear it. After dazzling in her short program, a stunning revelation after a stress fracture in her right foot kept her from the U.S. championships in January, her gold medal hopes evaporated in the opening minute of her free skate. She tumbled on her opening jump sequence. The remainder of her routine was as clean as it was elegant. But the fall dropped her out of gold-medal contention, a reality she acknowledged immediately after her routine with a look of disappointment. She finished fourth with a score of 209.84.

America’s hopes in its home nation fell to Liu. The last skater of the night.

She blew them all away. She owned the moment as it were a birthright. After stunning in Wednesday’s short program, Liu left no doubt with her free skate, capturing her first world championship gold medal with a score of 222.97. Sakamoto, some five points behind, took silver. Japan’s Mone Chiba took bronze.

Liu’s readiness only underscored the sense of destiny present. This was storybook. The meant-to-be vibes elicited goosebumps. She never felt that in all her previous years of skating.

“I really don’t think I wanted to do any competition before,” Liu said after her short program. “Besides not wanting to do it, I definitely wasn’t ready for competitions ever, in my opinion.”

Liu said she chose the music for her routine, “MacArthur Park” by Donna Summer, before she knew the worlds were in Boston, and without knowing Donna Summer was from the area. Yet, it was perfect enough to feel intentional, the way she landed a triple loop just as the tempo changed in the song. TD Garden turned up with the music, clapping with the tempo of the late-70s disco song. Liu’s verve elevated on cue.

“People were standing up at the flying camel,” DiGuglielmo said. “Why are you clapping at the flying camel? We have three more major jumping passes. And a step. And a choreo. And a spin. … You know, it’s not over ’til it’s over.”

At 19, Alysa Liu delivered the United States its first world title in women’s singles since Kimmie Meissner in 2006. (Geoff Robins / AFP via Getty Images)

When she hit the triple Lutz-double Axel-double toeloop sequence, it was over. Because it was clear she was in a zone. Or, as DiGuglielmo said, mustering his best attempt at TikTok lingo, “she was in the klurb.” Not an ounce of intimidation present.

A coach’s nervousness aside, something unflappable was evident. A coolness that belied the magnitude. Her disposition was governed by joy and not by weight. The confluence of events put this young woman right where she needed to be, to do what she was born to do, and be who she deserved to be. And she knows this because she chose this.

Such a resounding performance makes it impossible not to reconfigure the landscape of gold medal hopefuls for the Milan Olympics. How could any prognostication not include the breakout star the world just witnessed?

The 2025 world championships did not include the Russians, who dominate the sport. It’s still unclear whether they will be allowed to compete in Milan, though their absence from the worlds doesn’t sound promising. The nation has been barred from international competition since the invasion of Ukraine.

So the time is ripe for America to recapture its legacy of Olympic success. Liu illustrated she’s game for the challenge, giving the U.S. another hopeful next to Glenn. Levito, 18, looked largely worthy of a spot as well.

Much of America’s history in women’s figure skating has been elite since Tenley Albright won the States’ first Winter Olympics gold in 1956. It was the first in a stretch of 13 Olympic cycles that saw the U.S. take gold in women’s singles seven times.

Since Albright’s win, the U.S. has also had 11 other skaters win silver or bronze, the last being Sasha Cohen’s silver medal in 2006. Over the 50-year stretch from Albright’s gold to Cohen’s silver, U.S. women won 18 singles medals. The only other country with more than three medals in that span is Germany, with six.

But it’s been a podium drought for the U.S. in women’s singles over the last four Winter Olympics cycles. Not in Levito’s lifetime has an American woman medaled in the sport’s biggest event.

Liu enters the mix as a viable candidate to end the drought. The talent has always been unquestionable. She has the big-stage experience, which showed up under the ceiling of championship banners at TD Garden. The peace she declares she found away from the sport suggests she’s mentally prepared for the challenge. Why can’t she be the first American gold medalist since Sarah Hughes in 2002?

The beauty of what Liu has found is it doesn’t seem to matter whether she wins Olympic gold. And that liberation is why she can’t be counted out from pulling it off. She’s free from the consequence of failure and, thus, the confines of limits.

That’s how she skated Friday. Like one estranged from regret. Like one fueled by the zeal of authenticity. Like one who found her purpose, oddly enough, in the same place she left to find it.

The crowd caught the contagion, cheering through her step sequence by Massimo Scali, as Liu leapt and twirled and flung her arms and flashed a smile she couldn’t fake. Then, picking up speed, she slid across the ice on one knee, leaning back far enough for her hair to sweep the ice.

Now that’s how you slide up on destiny.

(Photo of Alysa Liu celebrating her gold-medal win Friday at the world championships: Geoff Robins / AFP via Getty Images)