U.S. Olympic Figure Skater Alysa Liu Is Making A Comeback After Nearly Two Years Of Retirement – News18

U.S. determine skater Alysa Liu, a member of the 2022 Olympic workforce, is making a comeback after almost two years in retirement.

Still solely 18 years previous, Liu stepped away after competing on the Beijing Games and profitable the bronze medal on the world championships. She stated on the time she had completed all of her objectives and was glad along with her profession, making her the primary U.S. skater since Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes in 2002 to not try to make a second Winter Games.

Liu didn’t say in a press release launched by U.S. Figure Skating on Friday whether or not she would attempt to make the workforce for the 2026 Olympics in Milano-Cortina, Italy. Liu solely stated that she aimed to compete throughout the 2024-25 season.

“It was good for me to take time off,” she stated. “I am beyond excited to begin skating again with my newly found perspective.”

Liu turned the youngest skater in historical past to land a triple axel in worldwide competitors when she did it on the age of 12 in 2018, and she or he was the primary American to land a quad lutz when she did it the next yr. She additionally turned the youngest U.S. champion in 2019, when the excessive-flying teen triumphed at simply 13 years previous.

It was Liu’s prolific leaping capability that made her America’s greatest probability of competing with the Russian ladies, the most effective on the earth for his or her capability to land quads. But Liu was pressured to withdraw from the 2022 U.S. championships after she examined optimistic for COVID-19, and which will have performed a task in some minor errors throughout the Beijing Olympics.

Liu was in eighth after the quick program earlier than a greater free skate put her seventh total. She has since been elevated to sixth following the disqualification of Russian skater Kamila Valieva for a optimistic drug check taken earlier than the Olympics.

“We are very excited about Alysa’s return,” stated Justin Dillon, U.S. Figure Skating’s senior director of excessive efficiency. “We look forward to supporting Alysa in her career as she seeks to build on the success she has already achieved in recent seasons.”

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)