Count it all joy!
Alysa Liu had walked away from ice skating in 2023, after feeling that the sport had taken over her life.
Now, she clearly has that work-play balance not only restored, but the very thing that once caused her grief provides great joy to her.
As she herself has said multiple times, she is on the ice because she wants to be, because it is her choice, for herself and not for any other reason.
It is the canvas upon which she paints her gratitude for the world!
Wow!
For her Free Skate today, she earned 150.20, almost three points higher than the two next highest, giving her 226.79 including the Short program.
Not only did she place first in Free Skate, she won the Gold medal for Women's Figure Skating!!!
That hasn't been done for the USA for the last eight Winter Olympics!
Shout out to Sarah Hughes for being there to see her do as she had done.
This was her final time in competition, as she is retiring from the sport.
She will be 25 years old in two months.
So, this was a bittersweet performance for her on Olympic ice and she chose songs by Edith Piaf to mark the occasion.
Such a beautiful dance she had, full of emotion!!!
Now, she will forever remember this every time she hears that music, knowing this was the day she won her Silver medal in the Olympics!
They told her to take the freedom to skate for herself, not for the competition, and to truly enjoy her time in front of the crowd.
That was very good advice!
She was able to stay in the top five overall and that's definitely something to be proud of in Milan.
I fully expect to see that 20-year-old at the 26th Winter Olympics.
So graceful she was for her "Romeo And Juliet" routine, so joyful to be there!
Her score of 143.88 for this part, and 217.88 for the total competition, will make her a favorite for the next time.
The next three skaters all scored within 0.5 points of each other!
Adeliia Petrosian, a Neutral Athlete, was absolutely fierce and was the only one who had two quadruples planned in her performance - WOW!
Even though she didn't complete them, she still placed 5th in the Free Skate (141.64) and 6th overall (214.53).
Imagine what her scores would have been if she had landed just one!!!
Yes, I will be watching for her next time, and so should everyone else.
Skating to music from "Dune", she scored 141.19, just barely getting edged out (skating pun, y'all!) into 6th place for the Free Skate and 7th overall.
That's Hae-in, the 19-year-old, skating to the opera "Carmen", music she has wanted to perform with before but had saved for this Olympic moment.
She was fabulous, too!
She scored 140.49 and Ji-a scored 141.02, placing them 8th and 7th, respectively, for the Free Skate today.
Hae-in had the higher overall score (210.56), granting her 8th place for the Figure Skating overall, whereas the 15-year-old Ji-a had 206.68, landing her in 11th place for the competition.
There's another two that should return for the 2030 Winter Olympics.
In mirth and cheerfulness, she reminds me of Yuma Kagiyama!
"What A Wonderful World" provided her background music for this time of her expressing her joy of being on the ice!
Don't let that lower Free Skate score distract from her overall of 219.16!
Bear in mind that the Free Skate was just ten points below that of Alysa's today, but Ami's score yesterday gave her 1st place in the Short program.
Combined, the two parts made a whole that won her the Bronze medal!!!
That's two medals for Japan in Women's Figure Skating!!!
Brava, and brava to Alysa Liu for getting the Gold for the USA!!!
Was it because she secured 10th place in the Free Skate?
No, that honor goes to Sofia Samodelkina of Kazakhstan, whose total of 207.46 also secured her 10th place overall in the Women's Figure Skating.
Then why single out Anastasiia Gubanova for this post?
She made me smile with the inside joke of her skating costume and music.
(smile!)
The song was "Unchained Melody"... but she had chains all over her bodice and back with this free-skirted outfit!
She's 23 years old now, but I look forward to seeing her again in 4 years.
What a wonderful time I've had with these Winter Olympics in Milan!
i thank You, God!
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