How to catch gold medalist Alysa Liu's double-axel 1st pitch? A Cardinals pitcher recalls.

Derrick Goold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Feb 21, 2026

Published in Olympics

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

JUPITER, Fla. — He had spun through the cycles of so many ceremonial first pitches this past season that Kyle Leahy didn't really remember the one he'll be talking about for awhile until he started seeing himself on social media Thursday.

There stood the Cardinals' right-hander in reel after reel, Tik after Tok, behind home plate and awaiting a pitch from figure skater Alysa Liu.

Right after, that is, Liu leapt into a double axel in front of home plate.

"I wish I got something from her instead of signing a ball for her," Leahy said Friday morning.

In an exuberant free skate performance Thursday in Italy, Liu won the Olympic gold medal to become the first U.S. figure skater to do so in women's single figure skating since 2002. She vaulted ahead of the competition with a 150.20 score in the free skate, spiraling around the ice at first to the song "MacArthur Park" and during the lyrics "someone left the cake out in the rain" she had all of the carefree joy and whirling spirit of a kid out in the rain.

And, yes, that same double axel was what launched her winning run as part of an early triple loop, double axel, double axel combination.

Liu, 20, returned to the Olympics four years after retiring following the 2022 Winter Games. She finished sixth that year — the highest of any U.S. women's skater — but the pressure of the sport was all consuming and she walked away. When she attempted a return, her coach recalled Thursday pouring a glass of wine and preparing to talk her out of it. She told NBC Sports this past month that looking back "feels like a different lifetime."

She returned to the ice refreshed, ebullient, and notably, enthusiastically and even casually trying to get the attention of friends and family right before her triumphant skate.

"Alysa Liu is the champion who can't stop smiling," reads the headline on NBC Olympics' site.

Leahy watches the midday Olympic coverage live after the workouts, he said, but doesn't get to see the prime-time broadcasts as he readies for the early morning. He caught the highlights of Liu's free skate performance Friday morning, but by then had already remembered his role in Liu's visit to Busch Stadium on May 7.

She was there to promote the U.S. Figure Skating Championships coming to St. Louis in January.

It just happened to be Leahy's turn to catch the first pitches.

A rotation of players who have yet to reach arbitration catch the ceremonial first pitches for the Cardinals, and there are often a handful of them. The players get a small fee for doing so, and for some of the younger players who will soon be on their way back to Class AAA Memphis it's a chance to go out, catch some baseballs, sign some baseballs, and take back some added cash.

"I think it's fun," Leahy said. "Especially when you have cool people doing it."

In recent years, the Cardinals have had a big Garfield the cat throw out the first pitch, local college coaches, comedian Nikki Glaser, and even a gymnast flipping off the mound and into a pitch. Leahy caught the hosts of "Bussin' with the Boys," Will Compton and Taylor Lewan. When Lewan, a lefty, threw wildly on his first pitch attempt, it was Leahy who came out of his crouch to give chase.

It's customary for the player to then deliver the baseball, pose for a photo, and then sign the ball as a memento for the ceremonial pitcher.

That's how it was for Liu, and now Leahy's wondering if he can get the photo of him and the gold medalist.

He's seen the video of the pitch plenty, starting with the double axel

“I was like: I’ll do something (leading) into the throw,” Liu told sports columnist Benjamin Hochman in May. “And I don’t really get dizzy, you know? I’m really used to it, so I just decided to do some spins in the air.”