Liu Reflects on Season's Accomplishments

Alysa Liu, still only 14 years old, finished her season by winning bronze in her first ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, in March.
 
She had been a skater to watch since 2019 when Liu became the youngest U.S. champion in history. Liu is best known for her ability to land a quadruple Lutz and triple Axel in competition with the greatest of ease.
 
Liu was in fourth place after her short program to Barbara Streisand's "Don't Rain on My Parade, and jumped to third overall in Tallinn. Her free skate to "Illumination" by Jennifer Thomas included two triple Axels, and despite a fall on the quad Lutz, she skated solidly and secured the bronze medal behind Russian skaters Kamila Valieva and Daria Usacheva, who finished first and second, respectively.
 
"I wanted to skate a clean program, and unfortunately I did not, which is OK," said Liu. "I was really happy I medaled. The experience was amazing and I learned a lot."
 
Liu saw the competition as a learning experience.  
 
"I think my biggest lesson was kind of learning how to control myself during the program and learning what I need to do mentally to prepare for the competition, what I didn't do and what I needed to do from then on."
 
This will no doubt help her during the upcoming seasons, especially the 2022 season in which Liu will be eligible for international competition as a senior, just in time for the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
 
But for now, Liu felt positive about the developments of the 2019-20 season. The year began with her junior international debut in Lake Placid, New York, last August, where she became the first American female skater to complete a quadruple Lutz in a competition, and the first female in the world to complete a quadruple jump and a triple Axel in the same program in a competition.
 
From there, she went on to compete in the Junior Grand Prix in Poland, capturing the title, with a less than perfect free skate that nevertheless improved throughout and included the quadruple Lutz and two triple Axels. She qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final, the first American to do so in nearly a decade, and won silver, sharing the podium with soon-to-be-familiar podium mates Valieva (first) and Usacheva (third).
 
She went into the 2020 U.S. Championships as a favorite. Liu was in second place after the short program which was marred by a turn-out on an attempted triple Axel, but included two other solid jumps and Level 4 spins. In the free skate, she rallied to win by over 10 points, winning the title for the second time.
 
"This year I'm thinking, it's a new decade, like, wow, what a good start!" she told reporters after the Championships.
 
And what of the trademark quadruple Lutz and the multiple triple Axels? Although she did include the quad jump in the free skate, it was under-rotated and earned negative GOEs, but this was offset by two triple Axels in the first minute or so of the performance, and six other triple jumps. Characteristically optimistic, Liu accepted her performance of the quad Lutz
 
"I was really happy to attempt a quad Lutz at U.S. Championships, I was really excited to do that."
 
With the win, she racked up more "firsts", becoming the youngest two-time U.S. ladies champion and the first to win back-to-back U.S. titles since Ashley Wagner in 2012 and 2013. Not bad for a 14-year-old. 
 
Her accomplishment brings to mind the consecutive U.S. titles of one of her inspirations, fellow Californian and prodigy Michelle Kwan, who won eight U.S. Championships from 1998-2005. Kwan met Liu in 2019 and sees herself in Liu; in a "Time 100 Next" piece written in November 2019, she noted that Liu's 2019 U.S. title win "made me think back to when I was 13, competing in the 1994 U.S. Championships. I finished second and was that bright-eyed little girl on the podium, not knowing I would be thrust onto the world's stage."
 
Liu seems quite comfortable on that stage and at peace with how her season went.
 
"I was really happy with all my achievements this season. Although my programs in each competition were not perfect, I was really glad to place in every competition," she said.  
 
At a time when many skaters would be preparing for a new season, choosing new music, choreographing programs, and of course, training their technical elements in preparation for pre-season competitions, Liu, like nearly every other skater, is not skating. With ice rinks closed, Liu compensates by training off-ice approximately three hours daily.
 
"I am doing a lot of off-ice jumps, floor exercises, height exercises, stuff like that," she noted.
 
She shared some of these exercises in the "#OffIceChallenge", a series of videos in which U.S. Figure Skating athletes share their favorite off-ice exercises and nominate other athletes to keep the series going. Liu was nominated by Michelle Kwan and showed three ankle exercises meant to strengthen the ankle joint and help prevent injury.
 
The off-season is difficult for elite athletes even under the best of circumstances, but for Liu, it has been even more of an adjustment.  
 
"My routine is different now that we have to stay in quarantine…it's a bit weird but I have a lot of free time and I get bored really easily," she said. "I read a few books and watched a lot of YouTube and did homework."
 
Like other skaters, Liu is looking forward to being back on the ice when the rinks re-open and has plans for what element she looks forward to completing first.
 
"I think the triple Axel (will be first). I think when my triple Axel is really good after a session. Most of my other jumps are really good, so I hope when I get back, my triple Axel is still good because that could mean that my other jumps are really good."
 
Although Liu has consistently said that she does not overthink her future skating trajectory and takes one day at a time, everyone else in the skating world has high hopes. Michelle Kwan sums it up best.  
 
"Alysa has a long and bright future. In a way, I will be living vicariously through her as I watch her life and skating mature. As my sister said, Alysa really is the future of figure skating."