Liu Wins Bronze in World Championship Debut

The U.S. kept up its medal-winning performances on the third day of the 2022 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montpellier, France, as the women's competition came to an end. Alysa Liu claimed the bronze medal, winning the first world medal by a U.S. woman since 2016.
 
The ice dance competition also kicked off on day three, and Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue hold second place while Madison Chock and Evan Bates are in third.
 
WOMEN
 
Alysa Liu has rediscovered the joy in figure skating.
 
That much was apparent when she made her Olympic debut in Beijing with a sixth-place performance, crying happy tears over the experience.
 
And it was just as evident at the World Championships, where she became the first woman since Ashley Wagner in 2016 to win a world medal by taking bronze.
 
"I am very speechless," Liu said. "I came into this competition not thinking about medals, even during the competition. I just wanted to do good programs for myself. So when I saw that I medaled, I was like, 'What?!' I didn't believe it. I'm still in shock."
 
Liu's free skate to Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D op.35 by Joshua Bell - Theme: "The red-crowned crane" earned 139.28 points, giving her a total of 211.19. She finished behind Japan's Kaori Sakamoto, who won gold with 236.09 points, and Belgium's Loena Hendrickx, who took silver with 217.70.
 
Mariah Bell finished fourth with 208.66 points, and Karen Chen was eighth with 192.51.
 
This was Liu's senior World Championship debut – she won bronze at the World Junior Championships in 2020 – as this was just her first season competing internationally as a senior.
 
Liu took a week off after returning home from Beijing to rest, saying she did nothing during that time. But she hit the ground running after that, training double run-throughs of her short program.
 
"I didn't think I could do better than [the] Olympics, because I did really good at [the] Olympics, and I was like, it's going to be hard to do it again at Worlds so soon after," Liu said. "It's crazy. I'm so happy. I trained really hard for the little time I had, and it really paid off, and I'm so happy."
 
A two-time U.S. Champion, Liu has been earmarked for success since she was a 13-year-old phenom performing quad jumps. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the time off the ice and an ill-timed growth spurt robbed her of her quads and her motivation.
 
"Honestly, I don't know how I got motivation back again," Liu said, laughing. "I don't know how I got to this point. Like, I genuinely have no idea.
 
"I think it's because the Olympics is very exciting, and that's why I continued to skate. So I think I was just really happy that I finally got there because it was my goal. I just think it was the mixture of talking with my friends more, seeing my family and just knowing that I was at my goal."
 
Regardless of how she did it, Liu achieved something in Montpellier that will etch her name in the figure skating history books.
 
"My goal for this competition was to do clean programs and try the triple Axel for the last competition of the season," Liu said. "So I'm just really proud that I did what I wanted to do."
 
Bell, meanwhile, scored 136.11 points for her free skate to "Hallelujah" by k.d. lang.
 
After finishing third in the short program, she admits that her free skate was a struggle, but she's still pleased with her career-best fourth-place finish.
 
"I'm proud that I got fourth," Bell said. "I could've been any place below fourth. And I'm happy that obviously I was close to a medal, and I had the potential to do it. I just got a little tentative on the last few jumps, but I'm really happy for Alysa and that we got an American lady on the podium. I think that's awesome."
 
Bell made her Olympic debut in Beijing as well, placing 10th, and says the longer-than-normal season was a grind.
 
"It's probably a little bit more mentally challenging than physically, but yeah, definitely, it felt a little bit long," Bell said. "But I honestly did feel really good when I was skating out there."
 
Chen scored 126.35 points for her free skate to "Butterfly Lover Concerto" by Takako Nishizaki, and burst into tears on the ice following her skate as the emotions of a long season overwhelmed her.
 
"I'm honestly so proud of myself for training my butt off to be here," Chen said. "It was definitely a challenge, just coming back from the Olympics and especially not having my best skates. Overall, I'm really proud of myself for going out there and just giving it my all."

ICE DANCE
 
Over the last four years, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, and Madison Chock and Evan Bates have been duking it out – warmly and respectfully – at the top of U.S. ice dance.
 
With Hubbell and Donohue set to retire at the end of the World Championships, this is the final time those teams will go head-to-head.
 
Following the rhythm dance in Montpellier, the results are exceedingly fitting and just what you would expect from these two teams: Hubbell and Donohue are in second place, while Chock and Bates are right behind them in third.
 
Both trail reigning Olympic gold medalists Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France, who set a world record with 92.73 points.
 
Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker are in ninth place with 76.56 points.
 
Hubbell and Donohue aren't far behind their French training mates, scoring 89.72 points, a new personal best, for their rhythm dance to a Janet Jackson medley.
 
"Zach and I are very pleased," Hubbell said. "It's an arena with a lot of energy, and it was really fun to perform. I think we just had the goal of going out and staying focused, but really letting the moment sink in a little bit more than we did at the Olympics, maybe. Really living the joy of it. And especially for myself, at the very end, from end of twizzles until the end, I had quite a fun moment. I was really just celebrating."
 
The two are fresh off a two-medal performance at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, where they won silver in the Team Event along with ice dance bronze.
 
Hubbell and Donohue have three World medals on their resume already – bronze in 2019, and silver in 2021 and 2018 – and said that their goal is to win a World title before they retire.
 
Regardless of the result, they know tomorrow will be an emotional experience.
 
"How's Madi going to keep her emotions (in check)? I don't know," Donohue joked. "Being that that is going to be our last competitive performance, I think we're just staying in the moment. It's the only thing we can do at this point because we want to take everything in. And just as we were able to draw on the energy of our teammates and coaches and the crowd to recharge and to fuel our passion for this performance, we'll have the same thing tomorrow. Right now, we want to enjoy every second and make the most of it."
 
"We began our career doing the World Championships in Nice, and now finishing here in Montpellier," Hubbell said. "The goal of tomorrow for myself is to not cry before or during the performance, so that's my only focus."
 
Chock and Bates are just a few points behind, scoring 87.51 – also a new personal best – for their rhythm dance to "My Boy," "Therefore I Am" and "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish.
 
"We had a ton of fun out there performing," Chock said. "We really performed every second of this program, and the crowd was so enthusiastic, so it made it even more fun and easier to let loose and just let the program shine."
 
Chock and Bates are looking to win their first World Championship medal since they took bronze in 2016. At the 2022 Olympics, they placed fourth.
 
While they have yet to announce their future plans, knowing that it's the end of an era in some way, shape or form has made this World Championships an unforgettable experience.
 
"It's just been one of the most enjoyable weeks of our career," Bates said. "I think there's a sentimental component knowing that this is the end of some of us, and it's been a long, long journey. Madi Hubbell and I have been training together since we were 10 years old. So I'm also going to try not to cry tomorrow, before or during my performance. But I think afterwards, there's going to be a lot of emotions and just a lot of love between everybody."
 
Hawayek and Baker scored 76.56 points for their rhythm dance to a Donna Summer remix.
 
In three prior World Championships appearances, Hawayek and Baker have placed ninth (twice) and 10th.
 
"I think we were really happy with our performance," Hawayek said. "From Beijing until now, we improved upon our levels in multiple areas. And the performance was really fun. I felt like it was just as enjoyable and energetic as Beijing, but the crowd really helped today. It was not only fun to skate with Jean-Luc, but it was fun to skate for a crowd as well."

The men's free skate and free dance will close the 2022 World Championships tomorrow. Fans can watch the competition on USA, with the men's free skate airing from 4-6 p.m. ET and the free dance from 6-8 p.m. ET, as well as live and on-demand on Peacock Premium. NBC will also broadcast the women's free skate on Saturday, March 26 from 8-10 p.m. ET and a full event recap on Sunday April 17 from 3-6 p.m. ET.