Alysa Liu and Karen Chen named to U.S. Olympic figure skating team, more AAPI athletes in contention

Madison Chock and Evan Bates won gold at the U.S. championships held in Nashville, Tenn.

Nathan Chen is back. After his short program Saturday, he's leading the men' figure skaters before the long program later today (Jan. 9, 2022) when the men's Olympic competitors will be named. 

Chen narrowly leads fellow 2018 Olympian Vincent Zhou and if all goes as expected, Zhou will join Chen when they compete in the Beijing Games next month. Zhou set a new personal best with his 112.78 score.

Asian Americans will once again be well represented in the figure skating team. As expected, Alysa Liu, who had to withdraw from competition Friday because she tested negative for COVID-19, was named to the women's Olympics figure skating team, joining new U.S. champion Mariah Bell and silver medalist Karen Chen.

Hawaii's Madison Chock and her partner Evan Bates won the dance team competition over Madison Hubbel and Zachary Donohue. The two teams, who train under the same coaches, have finished either first or second in the national championships for almost a decade and will most likely be named to the Olympic team.

Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson will wait to hear if they make the U.S. Olympic team.

Who will represent the U.S. in the pairs competition is less certain. Filipino American Jessica Calalang teamed with Brian Johnson to win the silver in the pairs competition at the figure skating championships. They were edged by the pairs team of Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc, the champions in 2019. COVID-19 forced the withdrawal of the No. 1 ranked pair of Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier. While Knerim and Frazier are expected to be named as Olympians, there is only one pairs spot left for the Olympics.

The remainder of the U.S. figure skating team will be named later Sunday after the men's final.

Favorite Alysa Liu withdraws from U.S. figure skating championship due to COVID-19

Two-time U.S. champion Alysa Liu might still make the Olympic team despite having COVID-19.

Sixteen-year old Alysa Liu had to pull out of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships after testing positive for COVID-19 Friday.

Liu, a two-time national champion for women's figure skating, is considered one of the favorites to make the U.S. team for the Beijing Winter Olympics. 

After the short program, Liu was in third place behind Mariah Bell and Karen Chen. Liu was expected to move up with the final event, the free skate, or long program. There are three slots for the women's figure skating team.

Liu wasn't the only skater to come down with the virus. The 101` pairs champions, Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, withdrew Wednesday night after Frazier tested positive. Another women's skater, Amber Glenn, also withdrew later Friday after testing positive.

US Skating will select the team members Saturday afternoon and base their decisions on skaters' performance over the last two years, not just this year's national championship.

Any skater who tests positive for COVID-19 this week can still petition to be on the 2022 Olympic team.

The fact that Liu was the U.S. champion the last two years will help her case.  Liu's agent, Yuki Saegusa said that Liu will petition to be added to the team. 

Liu, a resident of Richmond, CA, is the only American female skater to perform a quad in her routines and if she performs at her best, is considered the U.S.  best chance of getting a medal in a sport dominated in recent years by Russian skaters.

In Friday's final competition, Mariah Bell came out on top, followed by the Karen Chen, who is from Fremont, CA. and 14-year old Isabeau Levito.

Earlier Friday, Hawaii resident Madison Chock and her partner Evan Bates came from behind by edging rivals Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donahu to win the rhythm dance competition with the free form dance competition still to go later Saturday.

The men's long form featuring favorite Nathan Chen and Vincent Zhou is slated to start for on NBC Saturday to help determine who will be going to the Olympics. The men's finals will be held on Sunday.

In the pairs' competition, Sacramento's Jessica Calalang with partner Brian Johnson are likely to make the Olympic team after winning silver at the U.S. championship the last two years.

Right behind them, the team of Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov could find their way to the medal podium after the withdrawal of Knierim and Frazier.

Chock & Bates capture dance title; Jessica Calalang captures silver medal; Nathan Chen dominates at US Figure Skating Championships

Evan Bates and Madison Chock topped the field for dance pairs in the US Figure Skating Championships.

The scorching performance of Madison Chock and Evan Bates in the free dance competition of the US Figure Skating Championships shows that they may be the dance team to be reckoned with when they compete at the World's in March.

The couple never broke character or had a misstep as they danced to Egyptian snake charmer music in front of an enthusiastic audience in Greensboro, N.C. Saturday (Jan. 25).

“It was a good night,” said Chock, who is of Hawaiian and Chinese heritage. “We are very happy to be back in Greensboro, and we had a great skate tonight. We performed, and that was our goal, to have a good performance. We really enjoyed ourselves, and we are just so thrilled.”

Defending champions Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue finished in second, followed by Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker. 

“It feels longer than five years,” Chock said of the last time she and Bates won the US title in 2015. “So much has changed, and other than us, so much has changed, as well. We are in a really good place and we couldn’t be happier with how this season is going. We worked so hard to get to this point in our careers and we feel so strong and confident.

"At this point, there is still room for more growth. I am happy we can share this moment with some of our best friends and training mates, so it’s really special,” said Chock.

Chock and Bates, a couple off the ice as well, have been to the past two Olympics, finishing eighth in Sochi and ninth in Pyeongchang. They are on the verge of making this season their best. They haven't been worse than second in 2019-20.

In the men's figure skating competition, there is no doubt the man to beat is Nathan Chen as he gave a dominating performance for his short program.

The 20-year-old Yale University sophomore topped the competitors with a score of 114.13, which broke his own scoring record. The next-closest to Chen was Jason Brown, who earned a  distant 100.99 followed by Andrew Torgashev, who notched 97.87.

Vincent Zhou scored 94.82 to capture the fourth spot narrowly beating out Tomoki Hiwatashi who received a score of 94.21.

The US men's figure skating competition will finish with their long program performances  this evening.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the competition so far is the pairs performance of Filipina American Jessica Calalang and her partner Brian Johnson.

In just their second year together, Calalang and Johnson won the free skate with 146.01 points for a total score of 213.57. It was good enough to vault them to second place, as the eventual winners, Alexa Knierim and Chris Knierim, who held on to win their third U.S. pairs’ title, edging Calalang and Johnson by only 2.58 points after holding a 10-point lead over their training partners after the short program.

Calalang and Johnson vaulted to second from fourth place after short, when Johnson fell on the side-by-side triple Salchows.

In the free skate, however, they received positive grades of execution on every element. The crowd inside the Greensboro Coliseum was on their feet before their performance music even finished.

“I don’t think either of us have had that kind of performance at a U.S. Championships,” Calalang said at a press conference afterwards.

“I definitely haven’t,” Johnson added. “The amount of audience support that I felt at the very end of that program was overwhelming. It was the most amazing thing I’ve felt on the ice. I don’t have words to describe it.”

Pairs skaters Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson surprised with their silver medal performance.

Now, Calalang and Johnson could join the Knierims at the world championships in March. The US has two berths to worlds, up from one last year. US Figure Skating chooses the teams, not necessarily (but usually) following nationals standings.

For Chock and Bates, the next stop is the World's Figure Skating Championship that will be held in March in Montreal, where they also train.

“We train with the French every day, and we know how good they are,” added Bates when asked about competing against Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron as they lost to the Russians today. “But you never know what is going to happen. Ice dance is a strange sport in some ways, it can be unpredictable, based on what the panel looks like.”

On Friday, 14-year old Alysa Liu successfully defended her women's figure skating title but because of her young age, she is not old enough to compete at international competitions. 

TGIF Feature: 14-year old Alysa Liu defending her ice skating title

Alysa Liu is defending her title.

After the short program, figure skater Alysa Liu finds herself in a familiar position. Last year at the U.S. Figure Skating Championship, she was a few points behind leader Bradie Tennell. Alysa went on to win the gold medal on the strength of her long program.

Alysa and US men's figure skating champion Nathan Chen begin the defense of their respective skating titles this week.

Thursday (Jan. 23) at the competition held in Greensboro, N.C., Bradie Tennell leads the women skaters with a record-setting score of 78.96. Alysa is in second with a 75.4 score.

Amber Glenn (73.16), Mariah Bell (73.22) and Karen Chen (70.41) round out the top five.

Last year, when Alysa was just 13, she was able to overcome a short-program deficit to become the youngest US champion in history. She overcame a 2.71-point deficit last year to win by 3.92, landing a pair of triple Axels in the free. 

Alysa has since added a quad Lutz to her arsenal of jumps, which isn’t allowed in short programs. She remains the only active US woman skater to land a triple Axel or a quadruple jump.

"I don't really worry or think about pressure," Alysa told the L.A. Times. "I don't feel pressure that much, right now at least. I don't think I will as it comes closer, either. I'm just excited and I think I've trained enough. I think I'm ready for nationals, and we'll see how I do."

Karen Chen, the 2017 US champion and 2018 Olympian, is in fifth place. Chen, a Cornell student, missed all of the 2018 season due to a stress fracture in her right foot.

Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson.

In the pairs competition, Jessica Calalang, a Filipina American skater from Elk Grove, California, is within striking distance in fourth place with her partner Brian Johnson.

Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov with a score of 65.06 rounds out the top five.

US men's figure skating champion Nathan Chen.

The first two finishers in women's and pairs will represent the US in international competition in the upcoming skating competitions in preparation for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

However, If the Oakland-based ALysa Liu finishes in first or second, the third place finisher will join the US team because the 14-year old is too young to compete in international senior competitions.

The long program for women and pairs will be skated Saturday in Greensboro, N.C. 

On Friday Jan. 34, the men's short program will begin the men's figure skating competition where Nathan Chen  -- noted for his quadruple jumps -- is a heavy favorite to repeat as national champion. 

Vincent Zhou is expected to compete for the second spot. The men's finals is slated for Sunday, Jan. 26.

Since Chen's disappointing finish at the 2018 Olympics, the Yale sophomore has been undefeated.

The short program for dance pairs will also be skated today (Jan. 24). Hawaiian Chinese  Madison Chock and her partner Evan Bates are expected to compete for a spot on the US team.

Social media favorites Maia and Alex Shibutani used the 2019-2020 season to take a break. Maia is still recovering from kidney surgery in December.

Updated Jan. 24, 12 p.m., in include more details.