Alysa Liu segment #3 on 60 minutes 1/4/26

[heyang]

tonight's 60 Minutes includes an interview with Alyssa Liu. It will be the 3rd segment of the hour. In eastern time zone, 60 minutes started late due to football - so segment will likely air at about 8:25pm est.

Located transcript for the segment https://www.cbsnews.com/news/after-...turns-for-the-olympics-60-minutes-transcript/

 

[Kitt]

tonight's 60 Minutes includes an interview with Alyssa Liu. It will be the 3rd segment of the hour. In eastern time zone, 60 minutes started late due to football - so segment will likely air at about 8:25pm est.

What a positive and uplifting interview with Alysa, her dad and her coaches! She is a charming force of nature. No wonder she is a winner!

 

[rabidline]

tonight's 60 Minutes includes an interview with Alyssa Liu. It will be the 3rd segment of the hour. In eastern time zone, 60 minutes started late due to football - so segment will likely air at about 8:25pm est.

Located transcript for the segment https://www.cbsnews.com/news/after-...turns-for-the-olympics-60-minutes-transcript/

Thank you for linking the transcript! Enjoyed that read a lot. I think having Alysa back is truly a present for the sport, she approaches the work and the sport with joy even when she's struggling, and that brings a much needed sunshine in a sport that can be dour and depressing at times.

 

[Violet Sky]

tonight's 60 Minutes includes an interview with Alyssa Liu. It will be the 3rd segment of the hour. In eastern time zone, 60 minutes started late due to football - so segment will likely air at about 8:25pm est.

Located transcript for the segment https://www.cbsnews.com/news/after-...turns-for-the-olympics-60-minutes-transcript/

https://youtu.be/6O3HLPWatuU?si=xreT_I-D7rAPToBU - 60 Minutes features Alysa Liu ( also a very interesting interview with her dad, coaches & her outlook of the upcoming Olympics- a clip of the Gaga program at Champs Camp )

 

[Arigato]

"No one is going to starve me or tell me what I can and can't eat."

Good for you, kiddo.

Q: Do you view yourself more as an athlete or an artist?

"An artist, actually. But I love being an athlete, too. I view competitions as a stage for performing."

 

[Violet Sky]

"No one is going to starve me or tell me what I can and can't eat."

Good for you, kiddo.

I’m glad she took ownership of her life…including telling her dad he did not need to be invested in her skating because she came back on her terms not his.

 

[Arriba627]

Great interview. She is so strong mentally! Can't wait to see her at Nationals!

 

[Skating91]

Wow is a million dollars typically what a parent in the US will spend?

 

[Spiralgraph]

At the elite level that seems about right. He wanted the best for Alysa and when you change coaches a lot and keep traveling for different coaching teams the costs add up.

 

[EpperlyA]

Wow is a million dollars typically what a parent in the US will spend?

I believe figure skating is still ranked as the #2 most expensive sport to have a child involved in next to equestrian…at least it was when I skated as my parents constantly reminded me

 

[EpperlyA]

I really appreciated that she was very honest about her experience skating as a child and it perhaps being more of her dad’s “business” than hers at the time, but was still gracious about him being a great father

 

[Mathman]

I believe figure skating is still ranked as the #2 most expensive sport to have a child involved in next to equestrian…at least it was when I skated as my parents constantly reminded me

The striking thing to me is that Alysa's dad emigrated to the U.S. in the 1990s (or rather was driven there as an enemy of the State for his part in political protests), arrived in with nothing but an undergraduate degree in English literature and linguistics, went to law school in California (not a particularly famous or prestigious one -- I think he also managed to get an MBA), joined a law firm specializing in immigration law and associated international finance) -- and here he is a few years later able to foot the bill on a million dollar adventure for his daughter.

The young Johnnie Weir was an aspiring figure skater AND equestrian. Hoo, boy.

 

[PullingForSasha]

HERE is the whole, entire interview from 60 Minutes, on YouTube. She re-defines the word, "delightful" in this!

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

 

[Skater Boy]

Wow is a million dollars typically what a parent in the US will spend?

Figure skating is a very expensive sport. Music cuts/edits; costumes, image consulting, dance coaches, choreographers, spin coaches, fitness, mental health coaches, jump coaches, general coaches, conditioining/strengthening, often skaters will have plastic surgery as appearance is important. There's the cost of travelling too.

 

[Mathematician]

Wow is a million dollars typically what a parent in the US will spend?

When you consider she started at 5 and that's 15 years of skating now, and Alysa's father mentioned taking her "everywhere" from Japan to Canada, it's actually quite unsurprising.

In the transcript it's clear her father was even more passionate about this than her for a while.

If you consider private coaching, choreographers, off-ice practices (e.g. dance), travel costs & miscellaneous (skates, programs, physiotherapy & medical, costumes (one costume can easily cost 4 figures of which she needs at least 2 per season not including exhibitions, same for programs)) around 40k/yr is likely on the low end.

The transcript says he spent half a million to a million so if we take 750k and put it over 15 years (her career) that's 50k/year. A little higher likely since she took a break, perhaps less at the beginning then more as she became professional.

The average parent of a national team member is not spending much less. Of course the hobbyist won't be spending like this.

Something else nobody has mentioned though is how much she has probably made (and will make) in return. I would imagine it's 6 figures at least by now. Her career is peaking she could be making 4 figures monthly on social media alone (not including large deals & appearances). I'm sure Ilia's career has costed 7 figures but it will be worth at least that in the end. So this all isn't as crazy when you consider parents also spend a solid 6 figures on regular schooling.

 

[Mathman]

The average parent of a national team member is not spending much less.

There's the rub.The Alysa Lius and Ilia Malinins can earn millions back from their parents' investment. Not so for skaters who are, say, good enough to compete at national championships, who manage to get assignments to Grand Prix events, etc., but have little chance of ever breaking even.

But I guess the same is true in every field of endeavor.

 

[Mathematician]

There's the rub.The Alysa Lius and Ilia Malinins can earn millions back from their parents' investment. Not so for skaters who are, say, good enough to compete at national championships, who manage to get assignments to Grand Prix events, etc., but have little chance of ever breaking even.

But I guess the same is true in every field of endeavor.

It's definitely not for the average financial position but even for less-than-elite skaters it isn't an absurd investment or any sort of failure. It isn't really a lottery as some present professional sport endeavours to be. They still have lucrative jobs as coaches, trainers, choreographers, etc... fully locked in with minimal extra education alongside over a decade of extremely unique life experience. They can also monetize their career in the mean time to a non-trivial degree. It's largely worth it for a well-off family to invest into a passionate child. I don't see it as too different from an expensive standard education aside from tangential arguments on how "contributive" it is to society (e.g. banal doctors vs athletes debate) but from a pragmatic individual perspective it's quite comparable. It will still "break even" monetarily in the long run and non-monetary benefits are significant. On say 150k/year and no debts I'd easily cough up this kind of money for my kid if they're passionate I would see it as completely justified. Yes it's a particularly wealthy hypothetical but not unreasonably so at all for America.