Oakland figure skater Alysa Liu put on a show Tuesday during her short program at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Liu, 20, posted a score of 76.59, good enough for third heading into Thursday’s free skate. The reigning world champion was the only one of America’s vaunted figure skating trio to put herself in contention for gold.
Liu landed a triple lutz-triple loop, the hardest combination that any woman attempted, and sat only two points back of the leader, Japan’s Ami Nakai (78.71).
Liu has experience on this stage, having finished sixth at the 2022 Beijing Games. She also has a carefree attitude after going through a brief retirement, which allowed her to learn a whole lot about herself and put figure skating into perspective.
As she exited the ice all smiles following her short program routine, Liu gave a shoutout to Oakland. She later said she was “really happy” with her performance.
“I was so happy and so emotional because this program means so much,” she said. “The fact that I am here at the Olympics again after everything that has happened. The past four years have been crazy, truly insane. I think the emotions really got to me because my siblings are out there, my family, my best friend. I wish I was still out there. I’m really happy, and I’m excited to do the free.”
The Associated Press contributed to the report.