Same here. I am glad that US has a strong skater like Alysa.
Alysa Liu
- Thread starter Spirals for Miles
- Start date
Same here. I am glad that US has a strong skater like Alysa.
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2018
Dont worry, she is probably already sharpening her teeth for junior worlds. She wouldnt be where she is if some defeat would break her. None of those girls are like that.
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2003
- Country
-
Congrats to Alysa on her silver! She really could have folded after the first error but instead showed how gutsy she is. She's a fierce competitor and she should be very proud of herself here. I love how improved she looks each time I see her. She acknowledges her weaknesses and works towards getting better - a great quality to have in an athlete.
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2019
Congratulations to Alysa on her silver! I will say that when she didn't have her usual bubbly smile in the Kiss and Cry, I felt very sad for her. It was not her best skate - maybe the pressure of being the leader that everyone was chasing, with so little breathing space in the scores, got to her, or maybe it just wasn't her day. But she kept herself together after that first error, kept on going, and won that silver medal through grit and determination.
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2019
She was fair and honest on herself on the post event press conference. Well raised girl with a good character, bright mind and proper manners (i.e. keeping focus on her just concluded competition and not 'blaming' judges etc.)
I hope she will be an example to all the young skaters in the USA, and become their leader and guide towards rewarding skating programs which satisfy the current demands of difficulty and artistry.
I hope she will be an example to all the young skaters in the USA, and become their leader and guide towards rewarding skating programs which satisfy the current demands of difficulty and artistry.
That's probably why I'm starting to like her, not because of quads/axels, but because of her character, mix of reasonable confidence, self-awareness, she is down-to-earth, yet happy smiling sunshine. She didn't look angry about her score, she took it the best possible way, as an impulsse "there are things to improve". She reminds me th attitude Eteri girls, to be honest, though she is smiling a little more :agree:
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2018
Congrats to Alysa for her first JGPF medal! She fought till the end! Also earning silver at the JGPF during her first JGP season is an amazing success. She is pure sunshine on ice and in all of her interviews!
Cannot wait to see her gala this weekend
Cannot wait to see her gala this weekend
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2019
Alysa seems more media savvy though, which is because of the more open society of USA she lives in and the currently smaller status of figure skating compared to Russia.
Parents and trainers play a big role in this, the 'raising' part of both a child, young adolescent and athlete. It seems Alysa is surrounded by the right kind of people that guide, challenge and push her, but also comfort her, restrain her when necessary. Proper pacing of an athlete also, which is difficult probably when commercial interests start to become important.
Concluding, it seems Alysa enjoyed her Grand Prix Final nevertheless her mistakes, learned some lessons and hopefully made some acquaintances amongst her compatriots, for they will meet again in the years to come.
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2014
I am sad for her. There are a slew of Russian girls juniors and seniors you never know who's going to win or not. But Alysa has so much pressure on her tiny shoulders because she's basically the lone American girl who could compete with the top Russian Juniors and seniors in the next few years. If she handles this correctly this will be a great learning experience for Alysa.
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2019
Russian interview with Alysa:
Alysa Liu won the U.S. Adult Championship at age 13, and at 14 became second in the final of the Junior Grand Prix, losing only to Kamila Valiyeva.
The day after the competition, the skater met with journalists from different countries and spoke about her vice championship, Alina Zagitova, Aleksandra Trusova and Nathan Chen.
- Yesterday, after Kamila Valiyeva won first place, you said to her: “Well done, good job!” Can you tell me about this?
AL: Of course, I was very happy for her. Everyone in this situation is happy for the other when he wins. I just wanted to perform in the finals and show everything I can. I didn’t succeed, but I'm still extremely glad that I was here and that I managed to take a place in the top three.
- Is it difficult to compete in such fierce competition? How do you manage not to feel envy?
AL: Of course, I want to win, but I do not feel any envy at all. We are just happy for each other.
- Do you have role models? Who are you following?
AL: There are several of them. For example, Aleksandra Trusova, Nathan Chen, Yuzuru Hanyu. They are all great skaters. Almost everyone has a lot of experience competing. They inspire me, I follow them.
- But yesterday we saw you with a poster that read "Alina." Do you support Alina Zagitova?
AL: Yes, her too. And generally everybody.
- In Russia, they joke that Aleksandra Trusova wants to compete with men in the performance of quads. Are you ready for that?
AL: I don’t think I would like (laughs). Of course, it would be interesting to compete with men. Maybe this will happen in the future, but now I am focusing on my training.
- Have you watched the Olympics? Maybe there was some kind of program that became the most inspiring for you?
AL: Of course, I watched. The Olympic program that inspires me the most is Alina Zagitova free program. Because she then landed all the jumps and in general scored the maximum possible number of points. It motivates me to work even harder.
- What, in your opinion, is more important: technique or components?
AL: It seems to me that everything is important. I do not think that one is less important than the other.
- You said that both technique and components are important in the program. How do you find a balance between quadruple jumps and triple Axels and the artistic component of your program?
AL: In terms of artistry, I'm not too good yet. I would say that I'm not good at all. Although we are working on this, I still think more about quadruples anyway. We try to make them turn out as easy as triples. In general, you need to think about the jump only during the approach to it, and before that you should do choreography.
- Was it scary when you first jumped the quadruple jump?
AL: Yes, it was a little scary, but I wanted to try. But that attempt was not successful. It was scary precisely because nothing happened. Rather, then I just fell off the triple. At first it was not so exciting, but with time it got worse - I had to leave my comfort zone.
- And how did you decide which quadruple you will learn?
AL: Just the triple Lutz, it was the easiest jump for me. And I like it the most.
- Does your success surprise you?
AL: Sometimes yes. But then I just think that there are many more things that I want to do.
- What conclusions can you draw after the end of the competition?
AL: The most important thing I understood is that everything matters. In my program I need to focus on everything. Even if you do everything, and then make one mistake, it can ruin the assessment. I need to pay more attention to small details in order to maximize points where I can.
-----
https://sport24.ru/news/other/2019-...itovoy-chene-olimpiade---foto-video-instagram
Alysa Liu won the U.S. Adult Championship at age 13, and at 14 became second in the final of the Junior Grand Prix, losing only to Kamila Valiyeva.
The day after the competition, the skater met with journalists from different countries and spoke about her vice championship, Alina Zagitova, Aleksandra Trusova and Nathan Chen.
- Yesterday, after Kamila Valiyeva won first place, you said to her: “Well done, good job!” Can you tell me about this?
AL: Of course, I was very happy for her. Everyone in this situation is happy for the other when he wins. I just wanted to perform in the finals and show everything I can. I didn’t succeed, but I'm still extremely glad that I was here and that I managed to take a place in the top three.
- Is it difficult to compete in such fierce competition? How do you manage not to feel envy?
AL: Of course, I want to win, but I do not feel any envy at all. We are just happy for each other.
- Do you have role models? Who are you following?
AL: There are several of them. For example, Aleksandra Trusova, Nathan Chen, Yuzuru Hanyu. They are all great skaters. Almost everyone has a lot of experience competing. They inspire me, I follow them.
- But yesterday we saw you with a poster that read "Alina." Do you support Alina Zagitova?
AL: Yes, her too. And generally everybody.
- In Russia, they joke that Aleksandra Trusova wants to compete with men in the performance of quads. Are you ready for that?
AL: I don’t think I would like (laughs). Of course, it would be interesting to compete with men. Maybe this will happen in the future, but now I am focusing on my training.
- Have you watched the Olympics? Maybe there was some kind of program that became the most inspiring for you?
AL: Of course, I watched. The Olympic program that inspires me the most is Alina Zagitova free program. Because she then landed all the jumps and in general scored the maximum possible number of points. It motivates me to work even harder.
- What, in your opinion, is more important: technique or components?
AL: It seems to me that everything is important. I do not think that one is less important than the other.
- You said that both technique and components are important in the program. How do you find a balance between quadruple jumps and triple Axels and the artistic component of your program?
AL: In terms of artistry, I'm not too good yet. I would say that I'm not good at all. Although we are working on this, I still think more about quadruples anyway. We try to make them turn out as easy as triples. In general, you need to think about the jump only during the approach to it, and before that you should do choreography.
- Was it scary when you first jumped the quadruple jump?
AL: Yes, it was a little scary, but I wanted to try. But that attempt was not successful. It was scary precisely because nothing happened. Rather, then I just fell off the triple. At first it was not so exciting, but with time it got worse - I had to leave my comfort zone.
- And how did you decide which quadruple you will learn?
AL: Just the triple Lutz, it was the easiest jump for me. And I like it the most.
- Does your success surprise you?
AL: Sometimes yes. But then I just think that there are many more things that I want to do.
- What conclusions can you draw after the end of the competition?
AL: The most important thing I understood is that everything matters. In my program I need to focus on everything. Even if you do everything, and then make one mistake, it can ruin the assessment. I need to pay more attention to small details in order to maximize points where I can.
-----
https://sport24.ru/news/other/2019-...itovoy-chene-olimpiade---foto-video-instagram
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2018
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2018
Some of those questions are extraordinary stupid 
Some of those questions are extraordinary stupid
To be honest, I've read or saw very few interviews about sport that weren't stupid
As for Alysa, she is incredibly honest and sympathetic girl. I wish her all the best.
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2019
To be honest, I've read or saw very few interviews about sport that weren't stupid
As for Alysa, she is incredibly honest and sympathetic girl. I wish her all the best.
I don't think these questions were that stupid, I bet those 'international press' (presuming the Russian part of them here) don't know much about Alysa.
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2014
Alysa is just very uplifting emotionally for people. She really has it whatever it is. Now we've only seen her on the scene for a year or so but I'm always happy to see her and I think almost everyone feel the same way. , I hope she learns from this competition in the Junior Grand Prix final. But anyway you slice it she needs experiences like these.
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2019
The best American skater is fan of Zagitova and wants to make friends with Valiyeva
We talked with Alisa Liu.
Russia has usurped women's single skating: both on the senior and on the junior level only Russians win. Representatives of other countries often do not even have the opportunity to get into the top three and medal. This happened in the final of the senior Grand Prix series, where all the medals were won by students of Eteri Tutberidze.
But in the juniors, the fight was more acute. Tutberidze's figure skater Kamila Valiyeva won, but American Alysa Liu imposed serious competition on her. Liu has the most difficult program among juniors, and at senior level, only Aleksandra Trusova can compete with her. Alysa performs three triple Axels and two quadruple Lutz's - these are the most difficult jumps in figure skating. In Turin, Liu lost only because she could not skate cleanly.
She is only 14 years old - and she is already a superstar in the United States. Alysa is invited to evening shows, she gives interviews to major American media outlets, and Tara Lipinski calls her "the hope of generations."
After the Grand Prix finals, Liu and her coach Laura Lipetski met with reporters and answered questions about working on super-complex jumps, relationships with Russians, plans for the future and talked about her childhood. A childhood in which there was only a father, since Alysa was born through surrogacy.
Favourite program - Zagitova's free program from Pyeonchyang.
When Liu lost to Valiyeva in the Grand Prix finals, she deliberately walked up to Kamila in the mixed zone and, with reporters present, congratulated the Russian girl on her success. “Well done, good job!” She shouted to the Kazan skater.
“I was very happy for her,” says Liu about that episode. “I think everyone in this situation should be happy for the opponent who has achieved success.” Alysa really wanted to chat with Kamila and even make friends, but the language barrier prevented them. “We practically did not communicate with Alysa,” says Kamila. “She congratulated me on the Internet after the stage in France, but I still have weak English, I can’t talk to her.”
Alysa says that Kamila has a great future and she is very interested in competing with her. Liu tunes in to the good programs of Alina Zagitova. As Alysa admitted, Alina’s Olympic program is her favorite.
“The program that inspires me the most is Alina Zagitova's free from Pyeongchang,” says Liu. - Because she was the first to decide to perform all the jumps in the second half and scored the maximum possible number of points. It motivates me to work even harder. " Liu together with her coach supported Zagitova in the final and even took pictures with a poster in her support.
Like with young Zagitova, Liu has problems with presentation and artistry. “I'm not very good yet artistically,” says Liu. “I would say that I'm not good at all. There is a lot of work to be done. Now I think more about quads. We try to make them turn out as easy as triples. And in theory, you need to think about the jump only during the approach to it, and before that you need to deal with the presentation of the program.”
To help her student, Lipetski invited Laurie Nicole, one of the strongest choreographers in the world, to stage programs. She delivered a free program to the Chinese pair Sui Wenjing and Han Tsun. Tat'yana Tarasova called the performance the best of those that she saw in pair skating in recent years.
“Lori is an amazing choreographer,” Liu says of working with her. - She stages programs for outstanding skaters, Olympic champions. Each of her productions is special, she tries to reveal new facets of the athlete’s talent.”
Alysa also progresses in sliding, spins, and skating skills. To do this, before the finals, Liu went to visit the best skater in the world known for sliding of this century - Carolina Costner. “She helped me take a different look at figure skating,” says Liu, about the internship with Costner. “We worked a lot with her on skating and presentation, she explained to me that on the ice I should show a performance for the audience.”
Learning at home and helping father to raise the younger sisters
Alysa is being home schooled - a teacher comes to her in the morning, looks at how she completed her tasks, explains a new topic and gives exercises for the next lesson. “I would like to go to a regular school with other kids, but I don’t have enough time for this,” Liu explains.
She also has many friends. “I love spending time with them,” says Alysa. - Sometimes they impress me with their creativity, they can cheer me up after the worst skating. Most of my friends are from figure skating, but there are also from outside sports. For example, my neighbour. I have known her since we were two years old.”
Supporting the family, Alysa has four sisters: 12-year-old Selena and nine-year-old triplets Justin, Julia and Joshua. Alysa as the oldest girl helps her father deal with her younger siblings.
Alice was born from a surrogate mother, an anonymous donor donated an ovum to her father. Arthur Liu explains that he always wanted children, but he was already over 40, and he never found a bride for himself.
Raising four young children at once in parallel with work (Arthur is a lawyer) was not easy. At one time, the whole family huddled in a small apartment with one bed, where my grandmother lived, who came from China to help raise her grandchildren.
Despite everything, Alysa loves her father and her family very much and believes that she had a very eventful and fulfilling childhood. “I have a beautiful dad and four wonderful sisters,” she says. “We are all different, but I love them all. It’s always interesting with them, we never get bored when we are alone, and dad tries to do everything he can for us.”
Alysa in the American press is called one of the contenders for victory in the next Olympic Games. Liu will become a senior just before the 2022 Olympics and will be in his best form at the Games.
It's funny that in 2022 the Olympics will be in China. Alysa is a Chinese girl, her father moved to America to develop as a lawyer. “I hardly know Chinese,” says Liu. “But I try to learn. Not enough practice. At home, father teaches us Chinese traditions. I really like traditional Chinese cuisine.” So far, Alysa has never been to China, but it is obvious that the athlete will try to do everything to go there, to the Olympics.
Right now it’s impossible to say that Liu will win in Beijing. In two and a half years, anything can happen to any skater, but if she continues to progress as rapidly as she does now, then the Russians will have a really worthy rival in China.
At least Alysa is serious. “I will not hide that my goal is the Olympics,” she told reporters. - I think any ambitious athlete wants to win the Olympic Games. The Games are still far away. But every competition, every training, every new learned element brings me closer to victory at the Olympics.”
Liu and her trainer try to work like Tutberidze's school.
“I am pleased with myself and my results,” Alysa commented with a wide smile after her skating runs in Turin. “I wanted to show myself here and take a place in the top three. Maybe not everything worked out in my program, but my coach praised me for my courage.”
Going out with two quadruple Lutz's and two triple Axels is really great courage. Even Trusova does not dare to take such a risk. Aleksandra owns both the Axel in three and a half turns, and a Lutz in four, but performs these jumps only once each program.
Alysa decided in Turin to surprise everyone with her difficulty and did not calculate her strength. “Perhaps if I dropped the other quad it would've been be easier for me. But I do not want to stand still, I want to develop and move forward,” the American explains her decision.
On the jumps, they were declared under rotated and counted only with a reduced value. Under rotating is a big problem for the skater, because of which Alysa is often criticised in Russia. Liu does not always have time to spin the final revolution in the air and completes the jump already on the ice. Sometimes the judges notice this and react with penalties in the assessment (as in the Grand Prix finals), sometimes they leave the flaw in execution unattended.
“We understand that the jump technique is not perfect right now,” coach Alice Lipetski responded to this criticism. - I try to explain to Alysa that you need to gain more speed before entering the jump. Then there will be a high speed of rotation in the air."
Another trick that Liu uses when jumping is the early start of the jump. Alysa begins to turn her body even before the skates come off the ice. In professional terminology, this is called prerotation. The most accurate transition is the preliminary rotation. This technique allows you to twist part of the jump even on ice and thereby compensate for the difference in twist speed.
According to the trainer, at this stage, it’s almost impossible for a girl to perform a pure quad or triple Axel. But there are examples, Liu's competitor Valiyeva’s quadruple jump at the Grand Prix stage in France, according to judges, became the best female quadruple in history. She is the first to get +5 for a quad.
“We are trying to understand and adopt the technique of the Eteri girls,” Lipetski says. Liu herself said that her main motivator and idol is Trusova.
“What Trusova does is something unimaginable. She is very brave and strong, I try to follow her, ” said Lew about the young Russian skater. And she added that she was looking forward to moving into seniors in order to compete with her. “She tried five quadruples, maybe I can do more,” said Alysa jokingly.
Becoming the youngest champion in history.
Liu tried her first quadruple at the age of 11. Then in training, Lipetski noticed that Alysa had a good height on the triple Salchow. “She twisted the jump and fell. But I noted that there is a margin for a quad,” the trainer recalled that moment.
Liu admits that at first time it was scary to enter the quadruple, but the coach helped her and worked on the jump on a special harness. A few months of work on the fishing rod, and Alysa already jumped the Salchow without insurance. The jump was unstable, it took a lot of strength. It was abandoned in favour of a triple Axel.
Alysa went back to working on quads before the start of this season. Since her Lutz is the best from her triples, they decided to upgrade to the quadruple, although this is the most difficult of the quadruples. In the future, Liu would like to try other quads. In training, she does a Flip, tries a Toeloop and Salchow, but so far in the program she is ready to show only a quad Lutz and a triple Axel.
Axel in three and a half turns - an extremely complex jump. This element was managed by “queen of quads” Trusova only after a long time, and Liu learned the triple Axel in a couple of months. “At first it was hard, I fell a lot,” says Liu. “But after a few workouts, I realised what to do.”
Last winter, Alysa shocked the whole of America when she entered the US Championship with three triple Axels in her two programs. Having cleanly completed all the jumps, Liu at 13 and a half became the youngest US champion in history, surpassing the seemingly eternal achievement of Olympic champion Tara Lipinski, who won at 14.
Ironically, the past record holder commented on the new performance. “Alice is the hope of our generation,” Tara said on NBC. “She takes figure skating to a whole new level.”
The triumph at the US Championship made her a celebrity. Jimmy Fallon’s evening show, Today Show on NBC, Alysa received extensive media coverage and interviews. For Liu, the sudden popularity was not a shock: she eagerly communicates with the press, smiles at photo shoots, and extensively answers the most provocative questions of journalists.
In the world of figure skating, they agree that Alysa was carefully prepared for the role of a star, taught the rules of communication with the media, filming in commercials, and appearing on television. Therefore, she behaves more confidently than Russians of her own age. The rest is Liu's natural charm, which catches almost any person.
(c) Rustam Imamov
-----
From: http://sport.business-gazeta.ru/article/248949
We talked with Alisa Liu.
Russia has usurped women's single skating: both on the senior and on the junior level only Russians win. Representatives of other countries often do not even have the opportunity to get into the top three and medal. This happened in the final of the senior Grand Prix series, where all the medals were won by students of Eteri Tutberidze.
But in the juniors, the fight was more acute. Tutberidze's figure skater Kamila Valiyeva won, but American Alysa Liu imposed serious competition on her. Liu has the most difficult program among juniors, and at senior level, only Aleksandra Trusova can compete with her. Alysa performs three triple Axels and two quadruple Lutz's - these are the most difficult jumps in figure skating. In Turin, Liu lost only because she could not skate cleanly.
She is only 14 years old - and she is already a superstar in the United States. Alysa is invited to evening shows, she gives interviews to major American media outlets, and Tara Lipinski calls her "the hope of generations."
After the Grand Prix finals, Liu and her coach Laura Lipetski met with reporters and answered questions about working on super-complex jumps, relationships with Russians, plans for the future and talked about her childhood. A childhood in which there was only a father, since Alysa was born through surrogacy.
Favourite program - Zagitova's free program from Pyeonchyang.
When Liu lost to Valiyeva in the Grand Prix finals, she deliberately walked up to Kamila in the mixed zone and, with reporters present, congratulated the Russian girl on her success. “Well done, good job!” She shouted to the Kazan skater.
“I was very happy for her,” says Liu about that episode. “I think everyone in this situation should be happy for the opponent who has achieved success.” Alysa really wanted to chat with Kamila and even make friends, but the language barrier prevented them. “We practically did not communicate with Alysa,” says Kamila. “She congratulated me on the Internet after the stage in France, but I still have weak English, I can’t talk to her.”
Alysa says that Kamila has a great future and she is very interested in competing with her. Liu tunes in to the good programs of Alina Zagitova. As Alysa admitted, Alina’s Olympic program is her favorite.
“The program that inspires me the most is Alina Zagitova's free from Pyeongchang,” says Liu. - Because she was the first to decide to perform all the jumps in the second half and scored the maximum possible number of points. It motivates me to work even harder. " Liu together with her coach supported Zagitova in the final and even took pictures with a poster in her support.
Like with young Zagitova, Liu has problems with presentation and artistry. “I'm not very good yet artistically,” says Liu. “I would say that I'm not good at all. There is a lot of work to be done. Now I think more about quads. We try to make them turn out as easy as triples. And in theory, you need to think about the jump only during the approach to it, and before that you need to deal with the presentation of the program.”
To help her student, Lipetski invited Laurie Nicole, one of the strongest choreographers in the world, to stage programs. She delivered a free program to the Chinese pair Sui Wenjing and Han Tsun. Tat'yana Tarasova called the performance the best of those that she saw in pair skating in recent years.
“Lori is an amazing choreographer,” Liu says of working with her. - She stages programs for outstanding skaters, Olympic champions. Each of her productions is special, she tries to reveal new facets of the athlete’s talent.”
Alysa also progresses in sliding, spins, and skating skills. To do this, before the finals, Liu went to visit the best skater in the world known for sliding of this century - Carolina Costner. “She helped me take a different look at figure skating,” says Liu, about the internship with Costner. “We worked a lot with her on skating and presentation, she explained to me that on the ice I should show a performance for the audience.”
Learning at home and helping father to raise the younger sisters
Alysa is being home schooled - a teacher comes to her in the morning, looks at how she completed her tasks, explains a new topic and gives exercises for the next lesson. “I would like to go to a regular school with other kids, but I don’t have enough time for this,” Liu explains.
She also has many friends. “I love spending time with them,” says Alysa. - Sometimes they impress me with their creativity, they can cheer me up after the worst skating. Most of my friends are from figure skating, but there are also from outside sports. For example, my neighbour. I have known her since we were two years old.”
Supporting the family, Alysa has four sisters: 12-year-old Selena and nine-year-old triplets Justin, Julia and Joshua. Alysa as the oldest girl helps her father deal with her younger siblings.
Alice was born from a surrogate mother, an anonymous donor donated an ovum to her father. Arthur Liu explains that he always wanted children, but he was already over 40, and he never found a bride for himself.
Raising four young children at once in parallel with work (Arthur is a lawyer) was not easy. At one time, the whole family huddled in a small apartment with one bed, where my grandmother lived, who came from China to help raise her grandchildren.
Despite everything, Alysa loves her father and her family very much and believes that she had a very eventful and fulfilling childhood. “I have a beautiful dad and four wonderful sisters,” she says. “We are all different, but I love them all. It’s always interesting with them, we never get bored when we are alone, and dad tries to do everything he can for us.”
Alysa in the American press is called one of the contenders for victory in the next Olympic Games. Liu will become a senior just before the 2022 Olympics and will be in his best form at the Games.
It's funny that in 2022 the Olympics will be in China. Alysa is a Chinese girl, her father moved to America to develop as a lawyer. “I hardly know Chinese,” says Liu. “But I try to learn. Not enough practice. At home, father teaches us Chinese traditions. I really like traditional Chinese cuisine.” So far, Alysa has never been to China, but it is obvious that the athlete will try to do everything to go there, to the Olympics.
Right now it’s impossible to say that Liu will win in Beijing. In two and a half years, anything can happen to any skater, but if she continues to progress as rapidly as she does now, then the Russians will have a really worthy rival in China.
At least Alysa is serious. “I will not hide that my goal is the Olympics,” she told reporters. - I think any ambitious athlete wants to win the Olympic Games. The Games are still far away. But every competition, every training, every new learned element brings me closer to victory at the Olympics.”
Liu and her trainer try to work like Tutberidze's school.
“I am pleased with myself and my results,” Alysa commented with a wide smile after her skating runs in Turin. “I wanted to show myself here and take a place in the top three. Maybe not everything worked out in my program, but my coach praised me for my courage.”
Going out with two quadruple Lutz's and two triple Axels is really great courage. Even Trusova does not dare to take such a risk. Aleksandra owns both the Axel in three and a half turns, and a Lutz in four, but performs these jumps only once each program.
Alysa decided in Turin to surprise everyone with her difficulty and did not calculate her strength. “Perhaps if I dropped the other quad it would've been be easier for me. But I do not want to stand still, I want to develop and move forward,” the American explains her decision.
On the jumps, they were declared under rotated and counted only with a reduced value. Under rotating is a big problem for the skater, because of which Alysa is often criticised in Russia. Liu does not always have time to spin the final revolution in the air and completes the jump already on the ice. Sometimes the judges notice this and react with penalties in the assessment (as in the Grand Prix finals), sometimes they leave the flaw in execution unattended.
“We understand that the jump technique is not perfect right now,” coach Alice Lipetski responded to this criticism. - I try to explain to Alysa that you need to gain more speed before entering the jump. Then there will be a high speed of rotation in the air."
Another trick that Liu uses when jumping is the early start of the jump. Alysa begins to turn her body even before the skates come off the ice. In professional terminology, this is called prerotation. The most accurate transition is the preliminary rotation. This technique allows you to twist part of the jump even on ice and thereby compensate for the difference in twist speed.
According to the trainer, at this stage, it’s almost impossible for a girl to perform a pure quad or triple Axel. But there are examples, Liu's competitor Valiyeva’s quadruple jump at the Grand Prix stage in France, according to judges, became the best female quadruple in history. She is the first to get +5 for a quad.
“We are trying to understand and adopt the technique of the Eteri girls,” Lipetski says. Liu herself said that her main motivator and idol is Trusova.
“What Trusova does is something unimaginable. She is very brave and strong, I try to follow her, ” said Lew about the young Russian skater. And she added that she was looking forward to moving into seniors in order to compete with her. “She tried five quadruples, maybe I can do more,” said Alysa jokingly.
Becoming the youngest champion in history.
Liu tried her first quadruple at the age of 11. Then in training, Lipetski noticed that Alysa had a good height on the triple Salchow. “She twisted the jump and fell. But I noted that there is a margin for a quad,” the trainer recalled that moment.
Liu admits that at first time it was scary to enter the quadruple, but the coach helped her and worked on the jump on a special harness. A few months of work on the fishing rod, and Alysa already jumped the Salchow without insurance. The jump was unstable, it took a lot of strength. It was abandoned in favour of a triple Axel.
Alysa went back to working on quads before the start of this season. Since her Lutz is the best from her triples, they decided to upgrade to the quadruple, although this is the most difficult of the quadruples. In the future, Liu would like to try other quads. In training, she does a Flip, tries a Toeloop and Salchow, but so far in the program she is ready to show only a quad Lutz and a triple Axel.
Axel in three and a half turns - an extremely complex jump. This element was managed by “queen of quads” Trusova only after a long time, and Liu learned the triple Axel in a couple of months. “At first it was hard, I fell a lot,” says Liu. “But after a few workouts, I realised what to do.”
Last winter, Alysa shocked the whole of America when she entered the US Championship with three triple Axels in her two programs. Having cleanly completed all the jumps, Liu at 13 and a half became the youngest US champion in history, surpassing the seemingly eternal achievement of Olympic champion Tara Lipinski, who won at 14.
Ironically, the past record holder commented on the new performance. “Alice is the hope of our generation,” Tara said on NBC. “She takes figure skating to a whole new level.”
The triumph at the US Championship made her a celebrity. Jimmy Fallon’s evening show, Today Show on NBC, Alysa received extensive media coverage and interviews. For Liu, the sudden popularity was not a shock: she eagerly communicates with the press, smiles at photo shoots, and extensively answers the most provocative questions of journalists.
In the world of figure skating, they agree that Alysa was carefully prepared for the role of a star, taught the rules of communication with the media, filming in commercials, and appearing on television. Therefore, she behaves more confidently than Russians of her own age. The rest is Liu's natural charm, which catches almost any person.
(c) Rustam Imamov
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From: http://sport.business-gazeta.ru/article/248949
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2019
What modesty!
As a beotian I find she has style, for so young an age it is exceptional, "chic", and wants "only" working on cleanliness, refinement of elements and components, but she already has "the stuff", and should she be able to train with Carolina Kostner, as was suggested, this would be wonderful news for Ladies skating.
Maybe did she find herself "not artistical" because of Kamila Valieva being so exceptionnally so from so young an age? (One can watch her Dying Swan at only 8.)
As a beotian I find she has style, for so young an age it is exceptional, "chic", and wants "only" working on cleanliness, refinement of elements and components, but she already has "the stuff", and should she be able to train with Carolina Kostner, as was suggested, this would be wonderful news for Ladies skating.
Maybe did she find herself "not artistical" because of Kamila Valieva being so exceptionnally so from so young an age? (One can watch her Dying Swan at only 8.)
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2014
What is Beoitan? Belgian and Asian?
Alysa is just amazing on many levels. Her levels of difficulty are so high that sometimes she will mess up a little lake at junior Grand Prix final and lose her chance at the gold. In a way Alysa is playing Russian Roulette so to speak with her Sasha type of difficult jumps.
I think we all understand that nobody is liked by everybody but this girl Alysa will win millions over with her warm personality.
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2019
Certainly!
Sorry, in English the right word was Boeotian. I mean, I am quite ignorant in figure skating.
Sorry, in English the right word was Boeotian. I mean, I am quite ignorant in figure skating.
Except the diehard Russian fans.
