Alysa Liu retired in 2022 and is coming back in 2024

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Lipinski's goal was the Olympics, which she achieved in her third senior season. Liu went to the Olympics and also earned a Worlds medal in her first senior season

That was her third senior season by then? At 15 years of age? Wow. I thought it was probably two.

 

[skatingguy]

That was her third senior season by then? At 15 years of age? Wow. I thought it was probably two.

What? You don't remember that she was 15th at the 1996 World Championships. By competing at that World Championships it ensure she was eligible to compete when the age eligibility requirements were introduced.

 

[Sparks]

From Phil Hersh

Breaking: have just learned 2-time U.S. champion and 2022 world bronze medalist Alysa Liu will work with coaches Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali in her return to competitive figure skating. She has worked with both in the past.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

What? You don't remember that she was 15th at the 1996 World Championships. By competing at that World Championships it ensure she was eligible to compete when the age eligibility requirements were introduced.

So at the 96 world championship, she was 13?

 

[Debbie S]

From Phil Hersh

Breaking: have just learned 2-time U.S. champion and 2022 world bronze medalist Alysa Liu will work with coaches Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali in her return to competitive figure skating. She has worked with both in the past.

She went back to them for 2022 Worlds, right?

So at the 96 world championship, she was 13?

Yes. She also competed at Junior Worlds that season (JW was in Nov/Dec then) and was something like 5th.

 

[Sparks]

From Phil Hersh

Breaking: have just learned 2-time U.S. champion and 2022 world bronze medalist Alysa Liu will work with coaches Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali in her return to competitive figure skating. She has worked with both in the past.

/ Since both coaches are based in the San Francisco area, and Liu intends to return to UCLA in the fall, this will become a remote coaching arrangement after the summer. They may do some in-person work before then, either in LA or SF.

 

[Sylvia]

Thanks @Sparks - here are both tweets (Phillip D. was Alysa's coach at 2022 Worlds): https://x.com/olyphil/status/1764702187035234811

https://twitter.com/x/status/1764703281853411600

 

[kwanfan1818]

It wasn’t any old 15th at 1996 Workds for Lipinski: after placing high in her qualifying group, she was 23rd after the SP, and she rose again with 11th in the FS. That established her well as a competitor for 1997.

 

[aliona22]

It wasn’t any old 15th at 1996 Workds for Lipinski: after placing high in her qualifying group, she was 23rd after the SP, and she rose again with 11th in the FS. That established her well as a competitor for 1997.

She still holds the record for the biggest jump from previous finish to a World title. Papadakis/Cizeron went 14th to 1st from 2014 to 2015 but didn’t break her record

 

[On My Own]

I hope she has a better experience with everything this time.

 

[Sparks]

3 / Photo of Scali, a 3-time Italian Olympian in ice dance, and Liu, a 2022 Olympian in singles (she placed 7th), working together in autumn 2020.

 

[overedge]

If this report is true, things have definitely changed in Camp Liu. A quote from Scali in 2022:

Scali said that when he first started working with Alysa, Arthur was always at the rink and always trying to control things.

“I had a picture of Arthur that was very involved in her career, but in my opinion, in a way that maybe sometimes was a little too much,” Scali said in October. “But I understood soon after that, in my opinion, that the reason why he was so present, coming to every practice almost and trying to figure out the plan, that was a situation created by the fact that there was not much of a plan, or vision behind it. Never a real consideration of, ‘what are the steps, what do we have to do to bring her to where we want to bring her two years from now?’”

Scali was fired in November. (source: https://defector.com/alysa-liu-has-been-through-it)

 

[Sylvia]

Lest we forget:

US Dept of Justice Alleges that China Targeted Critics in US, including Alysa Liu's Father

More details to be provided at press conference later today. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/16/china-targeted-dad-of-olympic-figure-skater-alysa-liu-new-doj-case-says.html

www.fsuniverse.net

ETA this post from the same thread during 2022 Worlds:

On the USA broadcast of the short program, they said that Alysa's dad kept the information from her until after the Olympics. He knew about it and considered not letting her go to the Olympics, but he was assured that she would be safe and that someone always would be with her. But, I can see why she did not arrive earlier [to the Olympics].

Andrea Joyce said that Alysa told her this week that she does not feel unsafe and is more angry. But, at a minimum, she must feel scared for her dad. She had tears in her eyes talking to Andrea after her short program. Andrea asked her why and she said she was relieved. But, I can't help but think that everything going on related to her dad is taking an emotional toll. It's really heartbreaking and infuriating.

I am so impressed with how Alysa has dealt with this. I think it's easy to think of her as a bubbly kid with joyous skates, but she's a mature 16 year-old dealing with pressures far beyond expectations and desires of doing well at the highest level of sports.

 

[On My Own]

Lest we forget:

US Dept of Justice Alleges that China Targeted Critics in US, including Alysa Liu's Father

More details to be provided at press conference later today. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/16/china-targeted-dad-of-olympic-figure-skater-alysa-liu-new-doj-case-says.html

www.fsuniverse.net

And for the record this is indeed what I meant. But maybe since Olympics aren't in China it will be safer. And hopefully she'll not go to chinese events.

 

[carriecmu0503]

Lipinski's goal was the Olympics, which she achieved in her third senior season. Liu went to the Olympics and also earned a Worlds medal in her first senior season

Oh, please. Tara did not have three seasons as a senior internationally! 96 worlds was her one and only senior international competition that year. She debuted as a senior at 96 nationals. She competed as a senior internationally from March 96 to February 98. She did two years as a senior, not 3. And yet, all she can talk about when she commentates is “when I was competing…..”

 

[Rukia]

somewhere Tara is cackling at managing to derail the alysa liu retirement/comeback thread

 

[Wyliefan]

Oh, please. Tara did not have three seasons as a senior internationally! 96 worlds was her one and only senior international competition that year. She debuted as a senior at 96 nationals. She competed as a senior internationally from March 96 to February 98. She did two years as a senior, not 3. And yet, all she can talk about when she commentates is “when I was competing…..”

Why shouldn't she? Her frame of reference when talking about competing is the time when she was a competitor, however long or short that was.

 

[Frau Muller]

From Phil Hersh

Breaking: have just learned 2-time U.S. champion and 2022 world bronze medalist Alysa Liu will work with coaches Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali in her return to competitive figure skating. She has worked with both in the past.

Now this sounds positive. Her coaches during her highest season, after she got in top physical shape. OK, let’s see what she does. Good luck, Alysa!

 

[Vagabond]

somewhere Tara is cackling at managing to derail the alysa liu retirement/comeback thread

Karen Chen beat her to that.

 

[Rukia]

Karen Chen beat her to that.

well they're both Olympic gold medalists now so they're equals

 

[Marco]

I wonder if part of the reason to return is that Olympic Team medal. By 2026, unless Bradie is still around and competitive which I doubt, Alysa herself will be the Olympic veteran that will be chosen for the team event much like Karen was in 2022. That's a very much assured Olympic medal - and unless Russia returns by then, a good likelihood of a gold medal.

 

[Karen-W]

I wonder if part of the reason to return is that Olympic Team medal. By 2026, unless Bradie is still around and competitive which I doubt, Alysa herself will be the Olympic veteran that will be chosen for the team event much like Karen was in 2022. That's a very much assured Olympic medal - and unless Russia returns by then, a good likelihood of a gold medal.

That's not how the USFS has chosen the TE entries in the past. They'll use either the WS or current season WR. And, right now, 2 years out, our women and dance teams are looking the strongest, so those are most likely the disciplines that will have 2 entrants.

 

[kwanfan1818]

According to the selection documents, they ask all Nationals participants to declare their interest in the TE, if they want to do zero, two, or one segment, and, if one, which one, by 28 days prior to Nationals practices. Which USFS reserves the right to ignore (the forms) and strong-arm the Olympic Team members into doing their bidding, but, ostensibly, not if they are contenders, and it would interfere with their strategy for individual medals, blah, blah, blah.

Then they rank the disciplines in the order of strength, and the Olympic team members in their order of strength, and ranking is based on a published list of international events beginning with the prior World Championships, with a whole list of criteria to magic eight ball who will be the strongest at the Olympics for both the individual and team events. (2022 was more complicated in declaring the competitions that would be considered, because they weren't sure if Covid would be a factor.)

They describe how the athletes originally declared might not be possible, like how by the time they get to the skater's/team's discipline, that skater/team would have to do both segments, because two disciplines above them split, or a skater/team ranked higher than they chose the segment they preferred.

Davis/White were the skater/team with the strongest prospects in the strongest discipline in Sochi for the US, and they chose to skate both segments, so it's not a slam-dunk on paper that there wouldn't be a split option left by the time the third or fourth discipline came around, especially if there was a dominant skater/team who was recovering from illness or injury.

Here's a link to the document for Beijing, where they got more specifically numbery:

https://www.usfigureskating.org/sites/default/files/media-files/2022%20Winter%20Olympic%20Games%20Selection%20Procedures%20FINAL.pdf

 

[gkelly]

Oh, please. Tara did not have three seasons as a senior internationally! 96 worlds was her one and only senior international competition that year.

Lipinski competed at 1995 Nebelhorn Trophy, placing 4th. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Nebelhorn_Trophy

This was before the age rules that took effect for 1996-97, and before the JGP existed. So there were other skaters under 15 at that event (including winner Shizuka Arakawa), but also skaters in their late teens and 20s, and it took place under senior rules.

 

[carriecmu0503]

Why shouldn't she? Her frame of reference when talking about competing is the time when she was a competitor, however long or short that was.

Because she makes everything about HER, rather than the skaters actually on the ice. She competed a quarter of a century ago. How about she focus on the skaters who are actually on the ice and make it about them?

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

somewhere Tara is cackling at managing to derail the alysa liu retirement/comeback thread

Lol I know and all I did was ask a simple question.

 

[her grace]

Because she makes everything about HER, rather than the skaters actually on the ice. She competed a quarter of a century ago. How about she focus on the skaters who are actually on the ice and make it about them?

Often, it’s Terry asking questions to Tara about her career in relation to what’s happening in the competition. Sometimes he asks Johnny, too, but when he’s asking about a winner’s mentality, he asks Tara (for obvious reasons ).

 

[Marco]

That's not how the USFS has chosen the TE entries in the past. They'll use either the WS or current season WR. And, right now, 2 years out, our women and dance teams are looking the strongest, so those are most likely the disciplines that will have 2 entrants.

That's not what I am saying though. I am saying she has a relatively clear path to an Olympic medal in TE. I get that they rank by discipline first so we don't know how many entries there will be for the women's segment in the TE.

BUT, regardless of whether there will be 1 or 2 entries in the women's segment for TE, I feel there is a good likelihood that she will get chosen first (or that her preference will be picked up first) over other teammates. That's what I understood to have happened in 2022 when they picked Karen for TE over National champion Mariah or Alysa who had a stronger season thus far when the women's only had one entry. [Obviously it could also be Karen's 4th at the previous Worlds but her momentum had all but gone by that point, plus Karen was also 4at at 2017 Worlds but wasn't chosen for 2018 TE.] I wouldn't for a second believe that Mariah or Alysa prefered not to compete in TE.

Obviously this only makes sense under the premise that there are more spots for the women's individual event (e.g. 2 or 3) than for the women's segment at TE (e.g. 1 or 2). Otherwise there is no selection to speak of.

And, this is just my wild guess, if we are to believe that she is returning [partly] due to USFS' persuaion instead of [purely] on her own accord, it is possible that USFS had already made a secret promise to her that she would be chosen for the TE if she qualified for the Olympics in 2026.

 

[Wyliefan]

I could be wrong, but my impression of Alysa is that she's the last person on earth to be persuaded to do anything she doesn't fully want to do.

 

[kwanfan1818]

It would be enormously dumb of USFS to promise anyone anything two years in advance, especially since they've added numbers to the selection process, which impacts the ranking for the Team Event. They'd have a lot of tap dancing to do if someone else had significantly higher numbers.