Alysa Liu returns from 2-year absence and leads after short program at US Championships

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Alysa Liu wore the smudge of blood on her dress at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Thursday night like a poignant badge of honor, symbolic of everything she has gone through over the past few years.

The 19-year-old has been through some battles.

The youngest American champion ever when she triumphed at 13, and then defended her title the next year, Liu walked away from the sport in 2022 content with her career. She had done everything that everyone had ever asked of her, and she was more than ready to move on to the next phase of her life, which meant enrolling at UCLA to study psychology.

But then, early last year, Liu decided to mount a comeback. And with the bright lights shining again, Liu delivered a brilliant and breathtaking short program in her return to nationals, scoring 76.36 points to take a solid lead over two-time U.S. champ Bradie Tennell and defending champion Amber Glenn heading into Friday night's free skate.

“I was emotional from the very beginning to the end,” said Liu, who had nicked the palm of her hand when she grasped her skate blade especially hard during the program. “And I really loved that for me, and I felt very connected to the ice.”

In the pairs competition earlier in the night, Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea scored 77.19 points in a near-flawless short program. It was more than four points better than their best in international competition, and put Kam and O’Shea more than eight ahead of second-place Emily Chan and Spencer Howe heading into Saturday night’s free skate.

This year’s nationals, just over a year out from the Milano-Cortina Games, should help identify the front-runners for the squad the U.S. sends to Italy. It also will go a long way toward deciding the U.S. team for the world championships, which are returning to American soil for the first time in nine years this March in Boston.

Who would have thought Liu might be there?

“I don’t remember the first time I won (nationals) or like, the feeling of it, honestly,” said Liu, who got back on the ice after a ski trip, when she realized had she missed the adrenaline of competing. “It feels like a different lifetime. And when I’ve seen like, old videos of me, it’s like that wasn’t me, you know what I’m saying? But it was, obviously. It was just so long ago.”

Liu's score Thursday night would have been the third highest in international competition this season, and it was more than five points clear of Tennell, who scored 71.23 to land in second. Glenn scored 70.91 after a mistake on her combination jump.

Tennell was still pleased with her performance, especially given the foot and ankle injuries that have hobbled her for years.

“It felt amazing,” she said. “This program is so lively and so energetic and so much fun for me to perform, and there's nothing like performing for your home country. Nationals always feels like coming home. And I'm very happy.”

The 25-year-old Glenn wasn't nearly as pleased, especially after a season in which she won every competition she entered.

“I didn't feel the attack or adrenaline going out there today," Glenn said. “I came into this event trained and ready but definitely more fatigued and not quite as — I'm trying to find a word for it — exhilarated as I'd like to be.”

Kam and O'Shea, who were fifth at the Grand Prix Final last month, opened their short program with a clean triple twist before landing side-by-side triple salchows. But it was their throw triple loop that highlighted their program, and Kam and O'Shea both knew it when their music came to an end — she punched both of her fists and he punched one of his own.

And their moms, who had clenched hands while watching from the stands, finally exhaled and celebrated.

“My mom and I share some high anxiety in pressure moments. I think she knows what I feel,” Kam said, “but being able to see them on the big screen, it's just really special for them to come to these events with us.”

Chan and Howe, the 2023 silver medalists at nationals, scored 69.10 points for their program to Lara Fabian's cover of “Je Suis Malade." The score was dragged down just a bit by a noticeable wobble going into their lift midway through.

Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, the reigning silver medalists, were right behind Chan and Howe with 69.03 points.

“We were both really happy with how we felt out there,” said Chan, who dealt with a concussion earlier this season that limited the amount of time the pair could spend on the ice. “We put our heads together and really made a lot of improvement and felt we were really happy with our training, and we wanted to put it out here tonight.”

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