BEIJING (NEXSTAR) — Team USA has not won a medal in women’s figure skating since 2006, but Alysa Liu is looking to change that.
Current US champion Mariah Bell is 25 years old, nine years older than Liu who, at the age of 16, was arguably the favorite to win the US title in January.
“At ten, she won the US intermediate ladies national championship,” explains Arthur Liu, Alysa’s father. “So she was the youngest champion at that level in 2016.”
In 2019, Liu became the youngest US champion in history at the age of 13. She’s now a two-time US champion and she might have become a three-time champion if it weren’t for the COVID-19 pandemic. Liu tested positive for the virus at the US championships in January and was forced to withdraw.
Still, Liu was named to the 2022 US Olympic team.
“It doesn’t matter what happens in the Olympic games, and what she wants to do in her life, in the rest of her life. I’m super proud of her,” explains Liu’s father Arthur.
Among her many accomplishments, Liu is the youngest US figure skater in history to land a triple axel in international competition.
Something many may not know about Liu, according to her father she was born via surrogacy.
“I went through surrogacy to have all my kids, and Alysa was the first one,” explains Arthur.
As talented as she is on the ice, she’s equally talented off the ice. Liu graduated high school at the age of 15.
