NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Alysia Liu joined U.S. champion Mariah Bell and runner-up Karen Chen on the American figure skating team for the Beijing Olympics on…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Alysia Liu joined U.S. champion Mariah Bell and runner-up Karen Chen on the American figure skating team for the Beijing Olympics on Saturday, even though she was forced to withdraw from nationals following a positive COVID-19 test. The 16-year-old Liu was in third place after her short program when she took a regularly scheduled test and it came back positive. She immediately told U.S. Figure Skating she would petition for a spot on the Olympic team, and the selection committee chose Liu based on her overall body of work. Liu, a two-time national champion, said she’s “feeling well physically and mentally” and has been vaccinated. Bell and Chen were introduced to the crowd at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday during a break in the men’s competition, while Liu was shown smiling and waving to fans on a large video screen. Liu is one of the few American women who can land the high-scoring triple axel; she fell on the jump in her short program. And she almost certainly will need to hit it — and everything else, for that matter — to push one of the heavily favored Russian women off the podium in Beijing.
