Nathan Chen threepeats at U.S. Figure Skating Champiionship

US. FIGURE SKATING

NNATHAN CHEN

By Louis Chan
ASAM NEWS

Nathan Chen is so dominating his sport the commentators are running out of superlatives to describe it.

The Utah native scored 342 points to dominate the U.S. Figure Skating Championships winning his third straight U.S. Championship.

“All hail Nathan, the great. He took me to another world, said Johnny Weir, the last U.S. skater to win three straight championships. “There is a dreamy quality to the music selection. He’s taken skating to an entirely new world.”

Tara Lipinsky, who won Olympic gold in 1998, went over-the-top in her praise.

“He is a god. He is not human,” she proclaimed. “This is it, guys. This is what skating is about. He’s pushing the boundaries."

Chen so dominated with his multiple quad jumps that the only suspense going into Sunday’s free skate was which skater would take second place -- Vincent Zhou of San Jose or Jason Brown of Los Angeles. Brown held a narrow lead over Zhou after the short program. In the end, Zhou finished second, about 58 points behind Chen after Brown fell while attempting a quad in the long program.

“I’m so happy right now,” Chen said about his victory. “That program went exactly as I wanted it to.”

Chen will skip next month's Four Continents Championship in California in order to concentrate on his Yale studies. Although he is a heavy favorite going into the Worlds March 18-24 in Japan, Chen isn’t taking anything for granted.

“Worlds is a whole another ballgame,” he cautioned.

After the competition, the top three men, Chen, Zhou and Brown were chosen to represent the U.S. at the World's Championship. Waiting in the wings if any of thte top three could not compete is the No. 1 alternate, Tomoki Hiwatashi.

Views From the Edge contributed to this report.
_______________________________________________________________________________

13-year old wins gold at U.S. Skating Championships

YOUTUBE

Alysa Liu, the future of U.S. Women's Skating?

ASAM NEWS &
Views From the Edge

At the age of 13, Alysa Liu stole the show when she became the youngest skater to win U.S. Figure Skating Championships held in Detroit on Friday (Jan. 25)

She won the championship in amazing style by successfully landing two triple axels in her final long program thereby dethroning 2018 winner Bradie Tennell at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. 

After her score was posted, she put her hands over her face, overcome with emotion.
Alysa Liu of Richmond, California hit the triple axels, becoming just the youngest in American history to ever do so at Nationals and just the third overall. The others are Tanya Harding and Kimmie Meissner.

“I was really happy because I did everything I wanted to do,” Liu said to Team USA about the tears that rolled down her eyes after her performance.

Liu could be America’s future in her sport and, according to the Mercury News, is the most talked about skater in years.

She is the daughter of Arthur Liu who left China in 1989 after the Tiananmen Square protests. She was conceived through anonymous egg donors and two surrogate mothers.

She has worked with Olympic skater Michelle Kwan’s former coach, Frank Carroll and is currently coached by Laura Lipetsky.

“I care about her so much, I give everything that I can to her because she only gets one shot,” Lipetsky said to the Mercury News.

"I know a lot of people think I’m all about the jumps,” said Alysa to the Times Herald. “I do try to work on skating skills. Because I am so small it is a bit harder to project that emotion and presentation.”

The 4-foot-7-inch skater turned heads in August, when she became the youngest woman to land a triple axel in international competition, reports ESPN. On Friday, despite her age, she showed poise and ability under pressure on the big stage.

INSTAGRAM

Because of age, Alysa can't compete in this season's World Games because international competition require skaters to be 15 years old. So by the time the Winter Olympics come around in 2022, Alysa should be hitting her prime.

"I'm not too worried about that part," Alysa told ESPN. "Because I get more time to work on my jumps, skating skills, spins and just trying to learn more."

The women's competition was without several big names, with members of the Olympic team including Karen Chen, Mirai Nagasu and Gracie Gold all missing it for various reasons.

"To handle the pressure like she did, and to push the technical envelope as far as she's pushing it, at such a young age, is truly mind blowing," Olympic champion Tara Lipinski said, who was at the competition. "I think she's the future of U.S. ladies' figure skating."

____________________________________________________________________________