Alysa Liu retired in 2022 and is coming back in 2024

[Theatregirl1122]

They have agreed not to offer merit or athletic scholarships. Ordinarily, this would raise antitrust concerns but Congress granted an exemption set to expire in September 2022 unless extended.

That's what I said, yes. Financial aid comes in the form of need based aid or merit based aid (scholarships). Athletic scholarships are merit based aid.

 

[sus2850]

I just listened in on Alysa’s Insta live right now. She said: „I don‘t want to do anything with skating ever again“ and about whether she‘ll miss skating: „no!“
Later she elaborated a bit, being less absolute:
„I did everything I wanted, I achieved what I have dreamed of.“
She said she wants to see her friends and family more, does not want to travel so much and wants to go to college and feels doing both skating and college „would be too much for me“ as she is „kind of lazy“.
She sounded really happy.

 

[Sasha'sSpins]

Alysa finished high school early (before the start of the current season).

She recently performed in the Stars on Ice shows in Osaka & Toyko (shared some fun backstage photos with her fellow cast members here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CcKSm08OFXe/) and is now in Florida for SOI rehearsals (first U.S. show is on Friday): https://www.instagram.com/p/CcRMVExLo25/

First U.S. show was actually on Thursday, in Fort Myers (great show, I loved it)!

 

[Sylvia]

I just listened in on Alysa’s Insta live right now.

I caught a bit of Alysa's IG Live last night and she mentioned that she would ONLY consider living in the San Francisco Bay area and NYC -- which matches her top college choices, haha.

First U.S. show was actually on Thursday, in Fort Myers (great show, I loved it)!

The Associated Press' journalist (article linked in the U.S. SOI tour thread - thanks for posting your report there! ) made the same mistake as me, thinking the first show was tonight.

Alysa's solo programs for SOI are "RUN2U" by STAYC (new) and by "Loco" by Itzy (debuted at Olympics gala).

 

[KCC]

I haven't listened to her interviews, etc., but can understand an elite skater's decision to step down, even at Alysa's age. There is a ton of time, money, energy, body wear & tear, and sacrifices that go into every season, and yet all most of us sees are the competition performances. After her successful competitive season, fun travel to wonderful new places, and making friends with people from around the world, her next step would be to start again with the grind of the next season -- practicing, music, choreography, costumes, competition schedule, and more sacrifices, etc. It would always be a major decision after each season, to start all over again. I'm surprised that turnover/early retirements don't happen more often, to be honest. I wish her the best with her next pursuits.

 

[moebius]

I haven't listened to her interviews, etc., but can understand an elite skater's decision to step down, even at Alysa's age. There is a ton of time, money, energy, body wear & tear, and sacrifices that go into every season, and yet all most of us sees are the competition performances. After her successful competitive season, fun travel to wonderful new places, and making friends with people from around the world, her next step would be to start again with the grind of the next season -- practicing, music, choreography, costumes, competition schedule, and more sacrifices, etc. It would always be a major decision after each season, to start all over again. I'm surprised that turnover/early retirements don't happen more often, to be honest. I wish her the best with her next pursuits.

Most skaters want that Olympic gold, Olympic medal, or make the Olympic team more than once.

 

[her grace]

Most skaters want that Olympic gold, Olympic medal, or make the Olympic team more than once.

And yet most won't get that. And they retire anyway.

 

[once_upon]

Most skaters want that Olympic gold, Olympic medal, or make the Olympic team more than once.

Given that there is one Gold Medal once every 4 years, or x numbers of spots every 4 years (max of 3 per discipline) that's a pretty miniscule chance that: a) one gets to an Olympics and b) would win a Gold Medal and c) could endure the expense, training, body stresses necessary to do that.
Yeah some skaters have accomplished that and one or two have accomplished that while continuing to go to college or other life. But I dont think I could confidently say: Most

 

[MacMadame]

Yeah some skaters have accomplished that and one or two have accomplished that while continuing to go to college or other life. But I dont think I could confidently say: Most

Well, technically most may want it. But most skaters figure out very early on that it's not going to happen. For many skaters, as you know (but apparently moebius doesn't), just getting to their Nationals is considered a big accomplishment. Not medaling, just qualifying. And then for a select few, just getting to the Olympics one time is a fulfillment of their life's dream.

I think why some people are flummoxed about Liu's retirement, is that they thought she was one of the few who would make it to the Olympics (which she did) and maybe even medal (which she also did but in the team event) and so they expected her to try again now that the Russians are out. But four years is a long time. And who knows what will happen. Maybe this war will be over quickly enough that by the next Olympics, the Russians will be back, having spent the last couple of years happily doping so that their Women skaters now have Quad Axels.

In the meantime, she has a World medal, an Olympic medal, and is applying to colleges. I can totally see her saying that, if she isn't in for the next quad, why not go out now? (I could also have seen her saying she'll stay in one more year to see if she can become a World Champion, but I never saw her staying in an entire Quad, not based on what I've read in interviews, at least.)

 

[Karen-W]

I think why some people are flummoxed about Liu's retirement, is that they thought she was one of the few who would make it to the Olympics (which she did) and maybe even medal (which she also did but in the team event)

In the meantime, she has a World medal, an Olympic medal

No, she doesn't have an Olympic medal. The US only used Karen Chen in the Team Event. We split Men and Dance, remember?

 

[MacMadame]

No, she doesn't have an Olympic medal. The US only used Karen Chen in the Team Event. We split Men and Dance, remember?

My memory is getting really bad lately.

I still don't see her staying in for another quad no matter what.

 

[clairecloutier]

Alysa is probably one of the youngest top-echelon skaters to retire in some time. Even Zagitova made it to 17. LOL. It's only natural that people would be a bit surprised and wonder why.

 

[carriecmu0503]

Alysa is probably one of the youngest top-echelon skaters to retire in some time. Even Zagitova made it to 17. LOL. It's only natural that people would be a bit surprised and wonder why.

She owes nobody any explanation. She has simply said she’s had enough. That’s a perfectly good reason to retire. If she doesn’t want to skate anymore, why would she keep going? Let it go already.

 

[clairecloutier]

She owes nobody any explanation. She has simply said she’s had enough. That’s a perfectly good reason to retire. If she doesn’t want to skate anymore, why would she keep going? Let it go already.

This is a discussion board. Where people discuss things. The only people around here who need to be cutting off discussions are moderators.

I've already said that I'm happy to see Alysa to retire, because that's what she said she wants, so I support that.

That doesn't mean that I or anyone else can't still have some general thoughts/ideas/whatever around her retirement from skating. Just as many people had thoughts regarding the Zagitova retirement, they can also have thoughts around this.

 

[skatfan]

She owes nobody any explanation. She has simply said she’s had enough. That’s a perfectly good reason to retire. If she doesn’t want to skate anymore, why would she keep going? Let it go already.

We’re just discussing and curious. Not a big deal - nobody here is trying to talk her out of it.

 

[mtnskater]

I notice a stark contrast in support for Alysa’s decision to retire at 16 and support (or lack thereof) for Tara Lipinski when she retired after winning an Olympic Gold Medal and World title at nearly the same age. I was on previous skating boards back then and Tara was literally savaged and excoriated by the majority of posters. I’m glad people have calmed down. But Alysa doesn’t even have a world championship or an olympic medal. Only Olympic experience and a world bronze. I think it’s likely the USFS in selecting Alysa to the Olympic team was thinking it was investing in the future for her in part. She didn’t look good at Nationals…but her fall body of work was good enough…and there was no one else either. Though if Isabeau had been age eligible I might have considered her as the bronze medalist. I remember thinking Isabeau won the practices at Nationals that I watched. The investment in Alysa didn’t really pay off for future Olympics. Not good or bad, just what it is. Fortunately Isabeau and Lindsey are looking ready and hungry to take up the mantle for the next quad!

 

[Debbie S]

The reaction to Tara retiring wasn't really about her leaving competitive skating, it was more about her reasons/plans. She didn't retire to go to college and/or spend more time with family and friends, she retired to tour in SOI (which was then a 3-month tour from Dec through March) and skate in pro comps. I can understand a champion skater wanting to take advantage of the pro opportunities then, but Tara was 15, in high school, and fans rightly questioned the appropriateness of it all.

If Tara's retirement announcement was along the same lines as Alysa's, I think fans would have been more supportive. When Sarah announced her retirement at 17 to go to Yale, fans were supportive.

 

[just tuned in]

The reaction to Tara retiring wasn't really about her leaving competitive skating, it was more about her reasons/plans. She didn't retire to go to college and/or spend more time with family and friends, she retired to tour in SOI (which was then a 3-month tour from Dec through March) and skate in pro comps. I can understand a champion skater wanting to take advantage of the pro opportunities then, but Tara was 15, in high school, and fans rightly questioned the appropriateness of it all.

If Tara's retirement announcement was along the same lines as Alysa's, I think fans would have been more supportive. When Sarah announced her retirement at 17 to go to Yale, fans were supportive.

Speaking for myself, here, skating fans were already mad at Tara for jumping-beaning her way to a victory over Kwan. Michelle had proven her longevity with 9 years of national medals. Then this tyke has her anointed moment, then leaves. It felt opportunistic.

Why do we feel differently about Alysa? Maybe because she has our sympathy because we saw her struggle.

 

[Coco]

Sarah was 18 and her skating had regressed, so it's a bit of a different situation from Alyssa and Tara, who retired almost immediately after their peak sporting achievement.

I can't think of many US ladies who went to two Olympics as the US #1 lady both times. Tara's post Olympic Gold retirement was the normal course of action for US Olympic Gold Medalists in ladies skating. Her being so young was what made it abnormal. I think the venom directed at her came out of people being mad that she beat Michelle plus the spillover venom directed at her throughout that rivalry.

 

[Wyliefan]

Speaking for myself, here, skating fans were already mad at Tara for jumping-beaning her way to a victory over Kwan. Michelle had proven her longevity with 9 years of national medals. Then this tyke has her anointed moment, then leaves. It felt opportunistic.

Why do we feel differently about Alysa? Maybe because she has our sympathy because we saw her struggle.

I'd like to think we've all matured a little since then. Especially since we now know that Tara had wrecked her hip and couldn't have stayed in if she wanted to.

 

[PRlady]

Plus predicting the future in skating is a mug’s game - not that we don’t all try anyway.

Three years ago a lot of us would have expected Ting and Hanna to be the next US stars along with Alysa. I don’t know their status and they could turn out to be late bloomers like Bradie but they’re not in the conversation now.

So even if Alysa stayed in, there are no guarantees. She has a great record of accomplishment that most skaters would be thrilled to have, but who’s to say where things woujd be in two years. I’m pretty sure she knows that.

 

[AxelAnnie]

Does anyone besides me think there is a WHAT HAPPENED in here somewhere. Alysa's last post was odd.

 

[kwanfan1818]

US Ladies were "one and done" especially in the school figures era, because when they last won the Olympics before Lipinski -- Hamill in 1976 -- they couldn't earn any money. All but Albright, who was from a wealthy family and finished college and went to medical school, went into show skating where they could at least some of their losses.

The narrative for many post-war US Ladies who had international success was struggle: even though Yamaguchi grew up as the daughter of a dentist, her mother was born in a concentration camp during WWII. Maribel Vincent Owen became a single mother after her divorce, raising Maribel and Laurence, both US champions who were killed in the 1961 Sabena crash. Debi Thomas was raised by a single mom. Peggy Fleming and Nancy Kerrigan came from working class families. Mirai Nagasu's family had a family restaurant. Michelle Kwan's parents were immigrants.

Also 1998 was just eight years after school figures were abolished. Until then, figures created hierarchy and longevity.

 

[mtnskater]

I think Alysa has good accomplishments. But I also think she was just getting started and had much more potential in Seniors and could have been set up to medal individually and team at the next Olympics. She is quitting after her first year on the senior international circuit. Funny, I think in some ways I was a bit more supportive of Tara’s decision because she was Olympic and World Champion. I liked both Tara and Michele so I never resented Tara as many did. But I’m super glad Alysa has college ambitions and does not want to be apart from her family. I do recall with Tara that her parents were separated while Tara trained so retiring from ISU competition allowed the family to be back together….and the torn labrum injury issue as well, which wasn’t really fixable back then.

 

[MacMadame]

I think in some ways I was a bit more supportive of Tara’s decision because she was Olympic and World Champion.

There were definitely people supportive of her decision at the time. Retiring after winning an OGM was the norm back then and there were still opportunities for Pros.

I'm always amused when people declare that "this board" reacted in any particular way about some incident in the past. As if "this board" has ever been in unanimous agreement about anything. I mean people still argue Michelle vs. Tara many decades later. If we can't agree on that, how could we have agreed about Tara retiring?

My own memory is that a lot of people said similar things about her that some are saying about Alysa -- that's she's young and could have had another four years. And then others said they understood why she would want to take her OGM and move on and not risk "tarnishing" it by possibly losing to The Kween at future events.

 

[Karen-W]

Looking back nearly a quarter of a century later, I can't help wonder, how many of the Kwan fans were angry at Tara for retiring because it really would never give the Kween a chance at beating her again? I don't know that I felt one way or the other about her retirement, but who knows? That was a long time ago and Tara and Alysa's situations are hardly comparable.

 

[skatfan]

On Polina Edmunds podcast episode on the 2022 Womens event, she listed out all the things that she thought Alysa would need to work on in the upcoming season. It was a pretty fair list.

Worlds 2022 Women's Recap - Bleav in Figure Skating

I recap the Women's Event at the 2022 World Championships: Kaori Sakamoto, Loena Hendrickx, Alysa Liu, Mariah Bell, Young You, Anastasia Gubanova, Wakaba Higuchi, Karen Chen, Nicole Schott, Ekaterina Kurakova, Ekaterina Ryabova, Olga Mikutina, Niina Petrykina, and overall thoughts.

pca.st

 

[Yazmeen]

I'd like to think we've all matured a little since then. Especially since we now know that Tara had wrecked her hip and couldn't have stayed in if she wanted to.

Part of the complaint issue with Tara was that the reasons she gave for her retirement, etc. often didn’t hold up. She didn’t got to Worlds because she was too sick with tonsillitis or something but shows up at the Oscar’s and celebrity appearances. She retired to be with her parents more only to spend most of her time on tour (and worse yet, have Mommy sign her up for SOI where she got to spend her time after the shows staring at hotel room walls while Party-Hearty Hamilton and the adults went to bars and clubs). And the story of her hip injury and how bad it was and when she and her family knew about it changed so many times one’s head would spin until she finally admitted as an adult that she was injured and in pain in Nagano and it was pretty evident she couldn’t keep going with all those triples much longer.

It would have been smarter for Team Tara to have done an Alysa and stick to one story that she had accomplished her goals and was ready to move on. I don’t blame Tara at all - this was all stage mommy’s (and Tara’s agent’s) doing to cash in, and frankly, IMO, keep her from risking losing to Michelle or any other top level skater ever again. If they had just said, “Goals accomplished, she wants to move on,” a lot of the angst and discussion would have never occurred.

 

[attyfan]

IMO, the issues surrounding Tara's retirement are quite different than Alysa's situation, In the '90's, retirement was not necessary for a skater to make money ... there was the COI tour in the off-season, and, plenty of fluff events, as well as the Disson shows ... it may have been possible to combine some of these opportunities with a post-retirement education. All those opportunities no longer exist, so Alysa cannot count on skating to earn a living.

 

[Coco]

@kwanfan1818 Yamaguichi in '92 was the first gold medalist after Dorothy Hamill