Alysa Liu helps US take lead in Olympic figure skating team competition

Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times on Feb 6, 2026

Published in Olympics

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MILAN — Alysa Liu brushed her bangs out of her eyes. She glanced down, blinked hard and collected herself. For a program as personal as this, she deserved a moment to herself before saluting the crowd at Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Liu, skating in the team competition Friday, was proud to present her short program, set to Laufey's "Promise." The haunting piano ballad has been one of her favorite songs since it was released in 2023, and for Liu's return to the Olympic stage, her choice of the song and control over the choreography symbolizes how far she's come since she was a 16-year-old prodigy in Beijing who just skated as she was told.

"I have creative ideas that I got to satisfy and show here today," Liu said with a content smile after she finished second in the women's short program with 74.90 points that earned nine points for the U.S. team total.

She didn't skate perfectly. The Oakland, Calif., native made a face after leaning forward on her double axel landing. She made her coaches clench nervously when she took off slightly crooked on her tricky triple lutz-triple loop combination.

Japan's Kaori Sakamoto was nearly flawless, winning the short program with 78.88 points that gave Japan 10 team points.

Thanks to Madison Chock and Evan Bates' rhythm dance-leading performance that earned 10 position points, the United States leads the competition with 25 points, ahead of Japan's 23 and third-place Italy's 22. After the men's short program on Saturday, the top five teams advance to the long program portion. The United States selected two-time world champion Ilia Malinin to skate in the men's short program.

Liu was the second world champion competing for the United States on Friday. Chock and Bates edged out French pair Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron by less than two points in an early showdown of individual gold medal contenders.

In March 2025, Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron rocked the ice dance world by announcing their partnership. He was the reigning Olympic champion. She was a former Canadian champion. But it wasn't just that the pair became instant gold medal contenders 11 months before the Olympic Games. The reason for the sudden pairing caused a stir.

In October 2024, Fournier Beaudry's partner Nikolaj Sorensen was suspended by Skate Canada for at least six years for alleged sexual assault. The pair competed for both Denmark and Canada over their decade-long partnership, winning three Danish championships and a Canadian national title and placing ninth in the 2022 Olympics.

Cizeron hadn't skated since 2022. He and his ice dance partner of 20 years Gabriella Papadakis announced their retirement in December 2024, but wanted to return to competition. He had trained in Canada for more than a decade and maintained a friendship with Fournier Beaudry. The opportunity was open, but it would be complicated.

After pairing with Fournier Beaudry to launch Cizeron's comeback, the new team expressed support for Sorensen in an interview with Canadian French-language newspaper La Presse. Fournier Beaudry continues her romantic relationship with Sorensen.

When asked of the allegations Friday, Fournier Beaudry said she did not have anything to add to her previous comments. The pair proceeded through the mixed zone.

Since teaming up, Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron have won five of six competitions, a nearly inconceivable rise for such a new pair. The only blemish is a silver medal finish at the Grand Prix Final.

Chock and Bates' 15-year partnership has yielded three world championships, a record seven U.S. titles and four trips to the Olympics. On one of the most talented teams the United States has ever sent to an Olympic Games, Chock and Bates still stand out for their experience. Of the 14 other U.S. figure skaters, only Liu has participated in the Games before.

"I think we have the best generation of figure skaters within the U.S. right now," said pairs skater Danny O'Shea, who finished fifth with his partner Ellie Kam to earn six position points toward the team total. "Amazing people helping each other, supporting each other, and Madi and Evan leading the charge being the just experienced elders."

O'Shea, making his Olympic debut at 34, laughed as he clarified Chock, 33, is younger than him.