Liu takes third at Junior World Championships
Alysa Liu of Richmond needed all of her big jumps Saturday to contend against the mighty Russians at the figure skating Junior World Championships in Tallinn, Estonia.
Even then, it might not have been enough to catch the stars-in-waiting as Russia continues to dominate the women’s figure skating scene heading into the Beijing Games in 2022.
Liu, 14, is America’s big hope after winning her second consecutive U.S. senior title in January. But even with a solid show in the free skate Saturday, the Bay Area teenager could not overcome two artistic, luminous Russian athletes as she finished third.
Liu was less-than-perfect on her first two big jumps but then rebounded beautifully to win the bronze medal behind Kamila Valieva and Daria Usacheva as Russian skaters finished first, second and fourth. Russians have now won 10 of the past 12 junior women’s titles.
“I was happy with my placement but my program was ‘meh’ — it wasn’t too good,” Liu said via a U.S. Figure Skating official. “But I learned a lot from this competition. Hopefully, it will improve my mental and physical strength.”
Two years is an eternity in skating but the three medalists Saturday are expected to get more international attention leading into the Beijing Winter Olympics when they will be eligible to compete on the senior level.
While the attention shifts to the senior World Championships next weekend in Montreal, the top skaters there will be watching closely as the youngsters progress.
Valieva seems most likely to become the next big Russian star after her seasonbest 158.38 points in the arresting free skate that included two quadruple toe jumps to “Exogenesis Symphony” by Muse. Valieva, 13, was downgraded 2.44 points in a grade of execution for stepping out of her first quad. But she more than made up for the error with a performance that combined grace and elegance with technically challenging jumping.
“There was a little mistake on the toeloop, but basically I am pleased with my performance,” Valieva told reporters.
Valieva easily won the title with a total of 227.30 points while Usacheva was second with 207.74 points. Usacheva scored almost 3.5 points better than Liu in the free skate presentation marks, a big enough margin to win the silver medal.
Liu was one of few competitors to attempt a quadruple jump and a triple axel. She needs to land her big-points jumps to compensate for a less dazzling presentation than her Russian rivals.
On Saturday, it started poorly for Liu, just like it did the day before in the short program when she under-rotated a triple toe loop jump.
This time, Liu lost 4.87 points in the grade of execution for under-rotating her triple axel and her quadruple lutz. She also was deducted a point for falling on the quad.
But the East Bay teen looked good after that. Liu landed a second triple axel and six additional triple jumps. She also received Level 4 marks for all of her non-jumping elements for a free skate score of 137.31 points, just off her best of 138.99 points. Liu had a two-day total of 204.83 points and even without the deductions from her jumps she was not going to catch Valieva, who also won the Junior Grand Prix final in December.
Liu, who has long talked about improving her skating elements to match the Russians, did a quick spin before starting the 4-minute program skated to “Illumination” by Jennifer Thomas.
Overall, Liu said she enjoyed her world championships debut.
“I didn’t get sick this week,” she said. “Everything went well. I was happy this whole week.”
In the ice dance competition, Katarina Wolfkostin and Jeffrey Chen of Fremont scored 159.20 total points to place seventh. The new team that trains in Michigan scored 94.43 points in the free dance to music by Sam Smith, earning Level 4 marks for their stationary lift, twizzles, curve lift and combination spin. Their performance helped the United States earn three ice dance spots at the 2021 Junior World Championships.