‘It’s been an insane 11 years’ - Alysa Liu announces retirement from figure skating at the age of 16
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Updated 12/04/2022 at 08:25 GMT
Her final competition was the World Championships in Montpellier, France, as she improved on her fifth-place finish in the short program to claim bronze. Liu has retired after just one year competing at senior level. She gained an impressive haul of honours as a junior, after winning two ISU Junior Grand Prix golds, a Junior Grand Prix Final silver, and a World Junior Championships bronze medal.
‘The realisation of what she has achieved! – 16-year-old Liu seals stunning bronze at worlds
Alysa Liu has confirmed her retirement from figure skating at the age of 16, claiming she has achieved all of her goals in the sport.
Liu is a two-time US national champion and finished third at this year’s world championships and competed in the Beijing Olympics.
"I am here to announce that I am retiring from skating," she wrote on Instagram.
"I started skating when I was five so that's about 11 years on the ice and it's been an insane 11 years.
"A lot of good and a lot of bad but that's just how it is. I've made so many friends, and so so sooo many good memories that I'll have for the rest of my life. I honestly never thought I would've accomplished as much."
Liu was only 13 when she won her first US title in 2019, landing a rare triple axel jump and smashing Tara Lipinski's record to become the USA's youngest national champion.
She defended her title a year later and became the highest-ranked American in Beijing, in an event that was marred by the Kamila Valieva doping controversy.
Her final competition was the World Championships in Montpellier, France, as she improved on her fifth-place finish in the short program to claim bronze.
After winning that medal, Liu said of the past two years in quotes published by Olympics.com: "I lost a lot of my motivation. I was barely going to the rink, not doing off-ice [workouts]. Then I grew a lot and got injured quite a bit. I had an on-and-off injury and that really slowed me down. Honestly, I have no idea how I got my motivation back and got to this point."
Liu has retired after just one year competing at senior level. She gained an impressive haul of honours as a junior, after winning two ISU Junior Grand Prix golds, a Junior Grand Prix Final silver, and a World Junior Championships bronze medal.
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