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MILAN -- Alysa Liu astir apt cared the slightest of each the women successful fig skating astatine the Milan Cortina Olympics astir winning the golden medal.
Maybe that is wherefore she won it.
The 20-year-old with the striped hair, salient frenulum piercing and carefree cognition ne'er showed immoderate interest oregon strain erstwhile she took the crystal for her escaped skate connected Thursday night. Instead, Liu waved up astatine her friends and household successful the stands, grinned passim her program, and acted arsenic if she was going done conscionable different grooming league astatine the Oakland Ice Center backmost successful California.
"My household is retired there. My friends are retired there. I had to enactment connected a amusement for them," Liu said afterward. "When I spot different radical retired determination smiling, due to the fact that I spot them successful the audience, past I person to smile, too. I person nary poker face."
It was each smiles for her unit aft Donna Summer's mentation of "MacArthur Park" came to a conclusion. Liu earned a people of 226.79 points, sending her surging past metallic medalist Kaori Sakamoto and Japanese teammate Ami Nakai, who took bronze.
Liu's coaches, Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali, embraced successful a hug, contented successful knowing that a comeback 2 years successful the making had achieved thing incredible: The archetypal women's fig skating golden medal for the U.S. since Sarah Hughes successful 2002.
Liu's household members stood and cheered, arsenic did the remainder of the assemblage wrong the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
No uncertainty each authoritative astatine U.S. Figure Skating, and each subordinate of its Olympic team, besides felt a surge of joy. Or relief. It had been a frustrating Winter Games connected a fig of levels, opening with immoderate arguable crystal creation scoring that denied Madison Chock and Evan Bates the golden medal, and continuing close done Ilia Malinin's struggles successful his escaped skate earlier successful the week.
The lone aureate infinitesimal until Thursday nighttime had been the squad event, erstwhile Liu helped the U.S. support its Olympic title.
"If I had a nickel for each golden medal I person here," Liu joked, "I would person two!"
That's the benignant of "dad joke" lone Liu would ace aft triumphing connected fig skating's grandest stage.
Four years ago, the girl of a Chinese migrant was successful a overmuch antithetic intelligence state. Liu had conscionable finished sixth astatine the Beijing Games arsenic a 16-year-old prodigy, but she mightiness arsenic good person finished last. She was truthful burned retired by fig skating that her prevailing thought aft that Olympic escaped skate was alleviation that it was over, alternatively than pridefulness successful what she had accomplished.
She was the kid who'd get dropped disconnected astatine the rink successful the greeting and picked up astatine night. Her puerility revolved astir practice, and not of her ain choosing. When she became the youngest U.S. champion astatine 13, and defended her rubric the pursuing year, it lone upped the ante among those who saw her pursuing successful the footsteps of Kristi Yamaguchi, Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski.
Liu was trying to acceptable the mold that everyone wanted for her.
So, she quit. Walked away. Abruptly decided to discontinue aft the Beijing Games, leaving each of that intelligence strain down her.
For 2 years, Liu did what she wanted, which had small to bash with skating. She went connected backpacking trips with friends and began studying science astatine UCLA. She got the frenulum piercing that shows crossed her beforehand teeth erstwhile she smiles. In short, she became her ain person, 1 whose individualism has made her a leader to the alt, emo and punk crowd.
She broke conscionable astir each mold for a fig skater.
"I emotion that Alysa is showing the full world, and particularly our skating world, that determination is much than 1 mode to win," said Johnny Weir, the two-time Olympian, who on with Lipinski called her escaped skate for NBC connected Thursday night.
Indeed, erstwhile Liu launched a comeback 2 years ago, she did it her way. She would lone walk arsenic overmuch clip astatine the signifier rink arsenic she wanted. She would beryllium progressive successful each determination erstwhile it came to designing her programs. She adjacent had a accidental successful her dresses, with her favourite being the glittering golden ensemble that acceptable the infinitesimal truthful perfectly Thursday night.
"Honestly, it was much than conscionable work, it was experience," Liu said. "The past clip I was skating, it was truthful rough. I genuinely can't statesman to commencement connected it. It took a batch to get to this point, and studying science has truly helped. I emotion psychology.
"All I privation successful my beingness is quality transportation and, damn, present I americium connected with a hellhole of a ton of people."
That includes women similar Tenley Albright, who won Olympic golden astatine the 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Games, and was watching from the assemblage connected Thursday night. And different U.S. champions, specified arsenic Carol Heiss, Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill.
But it's much than that.
It's a transportation to everyone who has walked distant from thing and recovered their mode back. Who chopped ties with thing they erstwhile loved truthful that they could larn to emotion it again. And who had to spell searching acold and wide to observe who they truly are.
"I person nary thought however I americium going to woody with it. I'll astir apt deterioration immoderate wigs erstwhile I spell outside," Liu said, erstwhile asked however she plans to grip her abrupt fame. "I anticipation with each this attraction I tin rise consciousness astir intelligence wellness successful sports, and intelligence wellness much generally. I deliberation my communicative is precise cool. Hopefully, I tin animate immoderate people."
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