Alysa Liu competes at her second Olympic Games with joy

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Alysa Liu competes at her second Olympic Games with joy

Just before starting her short program in the 2026 Olympic figure skating team event, the new Alysa Liu cruised along the rink boards, smiling broadly, slapping hands with her coaches, Massimo Scali and Phillip DiGuglielmo, as she rocketed past them. 

In the midst of her program, she responded to a front-leaning landing on her double Axel jump with a bemusedly funky facial expression, a reaction Liu could cheerily describe as “like, oopsie” since the imbalance didn’t result in a faceplant.

As she skated off the ice toward the Team USA Box at the Milano Ice Skating Arena after a performance that was fallible but never fragile, Liu pumped both fists in unison, yelled, “Yeah!,” then turned around to tumble into a group hug when her scores were announced.

“I want people to see everything about me,” Liu said, then added an hour later, “I love, I guess, being noticed.”

How different that is than four years ago, when the old Alysa Liu might have preferred to skate with the lights off at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, when the sport brought darkness rather than joy to her life, gave her pain rather than pleasure.

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Figure skating officials weigh major changes in rules, schedule

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Figure skating officials weigh major changes in rules, schedule

nternational figure skating federation officials are weighing changes in competition rules that would alter the sport radically, including a potentially dramatic reduction in jumps in singles events.

And the federation’s governing board, the International Skating Union (ISU) council, has already supported significant changes to the figure skating season schedule and Grand Prix format to take effect in the 2027-28 season.

All this is still in discussion stages but moving forward. Under the new ISU Constitution, the 14-member council (rather than the biennial ISU Congress) has the “ultimate authority to adopt, amend or repeal” competition and event regulations and sports rules.

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Following his late father's plan, Maxim Naumov became an Olympian

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Following his late father's plan, Maxim Naumov became an Olympian

ST. LOUIS, Missouri - A year ago, barely hours after Maxim Naumov had finished a frustrating fourth at the U.S. Championships for a third straight time, his father, Vadim, laid out a plan for his son to avoid that frustration again.

Maxim and his mother, Evgenia Shishkova, listened in a Wichita, Kansas hotel room as Vadim outlined in a 45-minute conversation what, how and when they were going to do everything in the ensuing season to give their only child his best shot at both a podium finish and one of the three men’s singles spots on the 2026 U.S. Olympic team.

"He said, 'We have to be consistent where we haven’t been before, and we have to be strong and resilient,’’’ Maxim said. "That’s exactly what I’ve been carrying through this entire season.”

It was one of the last conservations he would have with his parents, the two-time pairs skating Olympians for Russia who were also his coaches.

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Amber Glenn wins third straight U.S. title in "thrilling and terrifying" free skate

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Amber Glenn wins third straight U.S. title in "thrilling and terrifying" free skate

ST. LOUIS, Missouri — There could have been no better test of Amber Glenn’s growing mental strength than what she went though as the final skater in the free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

One after the other, the four women who preceded Glenn each put out an excellent and compelling performance, leaving the Enterprise Center rocking with standing ovations. First came Bradie Tennell, then Sarah Everhardt, Isabeau Levito and Alysa Liu.

And then it was Glenn’s turn.

“My God, to have to skate after that,” Glenn said. “It was thrilling and terrifying.”

Glenn would add to the thrills because she had learned through years of effort and psychological support how to fight the terrors.

The 26-year-old woman, who frankly admits having long been her own worst enemy, became a three-time national champion on what will be remembered as one of the most exciting nights of women’s skating in the 112-year history of the event.

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Maxim Naumov channels loss for powerful skate at nationals in Olympic bid

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Maxim Naumov channels loss for powerful skate at nationals in Olympic bid

ST. LOUIS, Missouri – Maxim Naumov finished his short program and sat on a white sofa in the area where skaters wait to hear their scores.

With the cameras on him, Naumov held up a photograph of a little boy in white skates standing between two adults on an ice rink in Connecticut. Each adult was holding one of the little boy’s hands to prevent him from falling, the way parents do when their child needs support.

He kissed the photograph - once, twice, three times.

The little boy in the picture was Naumov, who was being introduced to the ice at about age 3.

The adults were his mother, Evgenia Shishkova, and his father, Vadim Naumov, the former pairs world champions and two-time Olympians who had been his coaches until last January 29.

That was the day Max's parents were among the 67 people who died when a U.S. Army helicopter hit their American Airlines jet, which crashed into the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.

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