Liu announced she was returning to the sport in March 2024 after retiring in 2022
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Alysa Liu announced her return to competitive ice skating one year ago. On Friday night, she was crowned world champion.
Liu, 19, became the first American woman to win the World Figure Skating Championships in 19 years. The previous American winner was Kimmie Meissner in 2006, when Liu was just 1 years old.
Performing a disco-inspired routine set to Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park,” Liu skated, spun and shimmied her way to the top of the podium in front of a home crowd at Boston’s TD Garden. Three-time world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Kaori Sakamoto, the favorite coming into the event, bounced back after a flawed short program to finish with the silver. Sakamoto’s Japanese teammate, Mone Chiba, finished with the bronze medal.
“I’m not going to lie, this is an insane story,” Liu said on NBC Sports. “I don’t know how I came back to be world champion.”
Liu had stepped away from the sport three years ago after competing at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, where she finished 6th, and the 2022 World Championships, where she finished third. Liu announced her return to competitive skating in March 2024. Her comeback started slowly, but she continued to build momentum throughout the season, culminating with a win in Boston.
Liu, the surprise leader after the short program, landed seven clean triple jumps in her free skate, scoring 222.97 points overall. Before retiring, Liu landed the triple Axel, a difficult jump that only her teammate Amber Glenn — who finished fifth in Boston — attempted at the event. Isabeau Levito, the third American woman competing Friday, finished fourth, ensuring three berths for Team USA at the 2026 Olympics in Milano Cortina, Italy.
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With her victory, Liu joins and elite club of American women who have won the world title, including Tenley Albright, Carol Heiss, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Linda Fratianne, Elaine Zayak, Rosalynn Sumners, Jill Trenary, Kristi Yamaguchi, Michelle Kwan, Tara Lipinski and Meissner.
As she had done before the short program, Liu did a cartwheel before stepping onto the ice for the medal
The 2025 World Figure Skating Championships conclude Saturday with the ice dance and men’s finals. Madison Chock, Evan Bates and Ilia Malinin are poised to repeat as winners in those two events. If they do, Team USA will have won three out of the four skating disciplines in Boston. Japan’s Riuchi and Kihara won gold in the pairs competition Friday.
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The 2025 World Figure Skating Championships are airing on NBC and streaming on Peacock.
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