Latest news with #MacArthurPark
CNBC
12-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- CNBC
19-year-old started focusing on happiness over perfection—now she's a figure skating world champion: 'I set myself up for success'
Weeks after competing at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, Alysa Liu announced her retirement from competitive figure skating. At age 16, she was miserable: Competitive skating felt like something she had to do, she says. She rarely took days off, fearful that time away from her rink in Lakewood, California, would make it harder to land her most difficult jumps. At the peak of her burnout before the Olympics, Liu skipped workouts and stayed up late before practices just "to make time pass slower," she says. She didn't lace up her skates again until December 2023, when she realized she missed the adrenaline rush of skating. She attended a practice session, and even after 18 months off, could still land some impressive jumps, she told NBC Sports on March 29. Liu decided to give competition another shot — this time, helping choreograph routines to music she actually liked, rather than skating more traditional classical music. Instead of aiming for perfection, particularly after years away from the ice, she tried only to entertain the audience, she says. She qualified for the U.S. national championships, and then the world championships, where she unexpectedly won gold in March. "I always want to skate [perfect] programs, but I don't set that as an expectation for myself," Liu says. "In my mind, that's the goal, not the bare minimum ... I'm happy with however I do."Pursuing fun instead of perfection came with intrinsic rewards too: Liu sleeps better, enjoys practices more and, now that she's older, she can drive herself to and from the rink whenever she wants, she says. "[Skating now] is all freedom, and because it's what I want to do, I make sure I set myself up for success," says Liu. Not everyone can win a sporting world championship, but prioritizing wellbeing over your career goals is generally considered to be a healthy practice, experts say. People who focus on on internal aspirations like health and relationships are typically happier than those who pursue fame, wealth or beauty, according to a 2022 meta-analysis from researchers at Australian Catholic University. People who find small ways to make everyday feel enjoyable, rather than staking all their self-worth on their ambitions, have fewer regrets when they die, hospice doctor Jordan Grumet wrote for CNBC Make It on April 4. "[Having a] goal-oriented type of purpose often depends on an all-or-nothing equation. You either succeed or you don't," wrote Grumet. "The other problem is that any satisfaction that comes with this toxic type of purpose is fleeting. The newness of a major accomplishment is only felt once, and excitement about attaining it is quickly replaced by endless worry over its loss." The shift in Liu's outlook showed in her performances. At the world championships, she skated one event in a glittering gold dress, with her dark hair no longer slicked back into a bun. Instead, it was loosely tied back into a ponytail that bounced rhythmically to Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park," a song about the end of a love affair. After she finished her program and saw her first-place scores, her longtime coach Philip DiGuglielmo leaned over and asked, "Did you have fun?" Sports Illustrated reported on March 29. She grinned and replied, "Yeah."
Reuters
29-03-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Alysa Liu comes out of retirement to win figure skating World Championships
March 29 - After competing in the 2022 Beijing Olympics and winning a bronze medal at the World Championships that winter, 16-year-old Alysa Liu retired from ice skating, worn out from the sport. Turns out it was an extended break instead. Now 19, Liu capped her return to skating at the World Championships in Boston, winning the women's singles figure skating title late Friday. Her dazzling free-skate routine to Boston native Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park" left a delighted crowd standing and cheering, and left Liu -- appropriately wearing a shimmering gold dress -- with expressions that ranged from joy to disbelief. She became the first American woman to stand atop the podium at the event since Kimmie Meissner in 2006. "I'm not going to lie, this is an insane story," Liu said on NBC Sports. "I don't know how I came back to be world champion." Liu cleanly landed seven triple jumps and received positive execution scores on all 12 of her technical elements. The eighth seed entering the competition, Liu's free skate score of 148.39 crushed her season's best mark by almost 17 points. "This means so much to me," said Liu, from Oakland, Calif. "Everything that I have been through -- my time away and all that. This time around I'm so happy." She won the national championship at age 13 and was the next shining hope for U.S. women's figure skating. Gone were the days of heaps of medals won by the likes of Dorothy Hamill, Nancy Kerrigan, Kristi Yamaguchi, Tara Lipinski, Michelle Kwan and Sarah Hughes, and when Liu retired from burnout, the hope dimmed. Now, she could lead an American team into the Olympics next winter in Italy with a chance of the first gold medal by an American woman since Hughes achieved the feat in Salt Lake City in 2002. Isabeau Levito, who skates out of New Jersey, and Amber Glenn of Dallas finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Levito won the silver medal at the 2024 worlds, and Glenn is the two-time reigning U.S. champion. Finishing with the silver and bronze medals, respectively, were Kaori Sakamoto and Mone Chiba, both from Japan.
Asharq Al-Awsat
29-03-2025
- Sport
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Alysa Liu Delivers the US Its First Women's Figure Skating World Championship in Nearly 2 Decades
Alysa Liu skated around the ice in disbelief, her golden dress shimmering in the lights of TD Garden, and the appreciative roar from a sellout crowd reminded her why she had returned to the sport following a nearly two-year retirement. When her score was finally read, the 19-year-old from Clovis, California, had made history. Liu became the first American women's figure skating world champion in nearly two decades, dethroning three-time defending champ Kaori Sakamoto with a brilliant free skate Friday night. Her program to a rendition of "MacArthur Park" by Boston native Donna Summer earned her a standing ovation, and allowed Liu to finish with 222.97 points. "I mean, it means so much to me and everything I've been through," Liu said. "My last skating experience, my time away and this time around — I'm so happy, I guess. I'm mostly glad I could put out two of my best performances." Liu's coaches, Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali, pulled her into a hug in the kiss-and-cry area of the arena. Moments later, Sakamoto came over from where she had watched in the leader's chair and squeezed her tightly, as if Japan's hero was passing Liu the torch as the first world champion from the US since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium in 2006. Sakamoto finished with 217.98 points to add a silver medal to her three previous golds. Her Japanese teammate, Mone Chiba, was third with 215.24 points while Isabeau Levito and Amber Glenn gave the Americans three of the top five. "We are all so strong," Levito said, "and we are all such fighters, and we all have our strengths, and are so different but we're all so sweet with each other. I'm just so glad these are my fellow Team USA skaters." Liu was once considered the sport's rising star, the youngest-ever US champ when she triumphed at the age of 13 in 2019, and then defended her title the following year. She fulfilled a childhood ambition by qualifying for the Olympics, finishing sixth at the 2022 Beijing Games, and earned a bronze medal at the world championships that year. Then she stepped away. Liu decided that skating had become less of joy and more of a job, and she wanted to focus on being a normal college student. It wasn't until she went on a ski trip and felt the rush of competition — albeit in a much different way, and with far lower stakes — that she began to think about a comeback. Early last year, she made it official with a cryptic posting on social media. And while the path back in a notoriously fickle sport was bumpy, to be sure, Liu took a big step forward with her second-place finish to Glenn at the US championships. She took the last step up on the podium Friday night. "Not every yesterday, I didn't expect this. I didn't have expectations coming in," Liu said. "I never have expectations coming into competitions anymore. It's more so, 'What can I put out performance-wise?' I really met my expectations on my part." She left Sakamoto, the erstwhile champion, with feelings of awe and admiration. "She went away and now she's back, and the world champion," Sakamoto said. "I wouldn't say she's changed. Her cheerfulness and kindness and the way she's always happy brought her to the top step of the podium." Earlier in the night, American ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates built a big cushion as they chase their third consecutive title, scoring a season-best 90.18 points for their rhythm dance to lead Canadian rivals Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier. Gilles and Poirier scored 86.44 points to their dance, set to music from The Beach Boys. They held the lead only long enough for the US duo to finish their "tour of the decades" program, which earned them a raucous ovation inside TD Garden. The International Skating Union chose the theme this season of social dances and styles of the 1950's, 60's and 70's. But while some skaters picked one — the Watusi, the Madison or disco — Chock and Bates threw it all into their rollicking showcase. "It was probably the most fun I've had thus far on competitive ice in a performance, maybe ever," Chock said. "It was really a joy to perform in front of a home crowd and share that excitement with Evan. It was the best." Now, Chock and Bates will try to finish off the first three-peat since Russia's Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov in the 1990s. "That's a tough amount of points to catch up on," Poirier admitted, "but we also know that sport is really unpredictable."
BBC News
29-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Liu, 19, wins world title - three years after retiring
Teenage American figure skater Alysa Liu claimed the women's world title in Boston to cap a remarkable return after retiring from the sport aged just 16. The 19-year-old produced a captivating free-skate routine, to the delight of her home crowd at TD Garden, to edge out Japan's three-time defending champion Kaori Sakamoto. Liu quit the sport after winning a bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships and only returned to competition last year. "This is an insane story," Liu told broadcaster NBC. "I don't know how I came back to be world champion. I never would have thought." Liu was last on the ice and had to watch as Sakamoto produced a high-quality free-skate routine of her own to move up from fifth place after the short programme to take the she was feeling the pressure the young Californian did not show it, as she whipped up the crowd to a soundtrack of Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park" before ending with a flawless double Axel on her final jump. Her overall score of 222.97 was enough to see Liu become the first American since Kimmie Meissner in 2006 to claim the women's world title. She did a cartwheel on her way to collect her gold medal, with Japan's Mone Chiba joining compatriot Sakamoto on the podium after claiming bronze. Meanwhile, Great Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson will return to the ice in Boston later on Saturday in the pairs' ice dance competition. They are in third place after scoring 83.86 in Friday's rhythm dance, behind American two-time defending champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates (90.18) and Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (86.44).
Chicago Tribune
29-03-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Alysa Liu delivers the US its first women's figure skating world championship in nearly 2 decades
BOSTON — Alysa Liu became the first American women's figure skating world champion in nearly two decades Friday night, dethroning three-time defending champion Kaori Sakamoto with a brilliant free skate that earned her a standing ovation at TD Garden. With her gold dress shimmering in the lights, Liu landed all of her jumping passes to a rendition of 'MacArthur Park' by Boston native Donna Summer, and finished with 222.97 points to culminate a remarkable comeback from a two-year retirement. As the 19-year-old Liu's score was read, the sellout crowd roared and her coaches, Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali, pulled her into a hug. Moments later, Sakamoto came over and squeezed her tightly, as if Japan's hero was passing Liu the torch as the first world champion from the U.S. since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium in 2006. 'What the hell?' Liu asked in disbelief. 'I don't know. I don't know how to process this.' Sakamoto finished with 217.98 points to add a silver medal to her three previous golds. Her Japanese teammate, Mone Chiba, was third with 215.24 points while Isabeau Levito and Amber Glenn gave the Americans three of the top five. Liu was once considered the sport's rising star, the youngest-ever U.S. champ when she triumphed at age 13 in 2019, and then defended her title the following year. She fulfilled a childhood ambition by qualifying for the Olympics, finishing sixth at the 2022 Beijing Games, and earned a bronze medal at the world championships that year. Then she stepped away. Liu decided that skating had become less joy and more of a job, and she wanted to focus on being a normal student. It wasn't until she went on a skiing trip and felt the rush of competition — albit a much different way, and with far lower stakes — that she began to think about a comeback. And early last year, she made it official on social media. The road was bumpy, to be sure, but a big step was her second-place finish to Glenn at the U.S. championships. She took the last step up on the podium Friday night. Earlier in the night, American ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates built a big cushion as they chase their third consecutive title, scoring a season-best 90.18 points for their rhythm dance to lead Canadian rivals Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier. Gilles and Poirier scored 86.44 points to their dance, set to music from The Beach Boys. They held the lead only long enough for the U.S. duo to finish their 'tour of the decades' program, which earned them a raucous ovation inside TD Garden. The International Skating Union chose the theme this season of social dances and styles of the 1950's, 60's and 70's. But while some skaters picked one — the Watusi, the Madison or disco — Chock and Bates threw it all into their rollicking showcase. 'It was probably the most fun I've had thus far on competitive ice in a performance, maybe ever,' Chock said. 'It was really a joy to perform in front of a home crowd and share that excitement with Evan. It was the best.' Now, Chock and Bates will try to finish off the first three-peat since Russia's Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov in the 1990s. 'That's a tough amount of points to catch up on,' Poirier admitted, 'but we also know that sport is really unpredictable.'
