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Figure skater Alysa Liu retired for two years: How the time away helped her skating

Last year, Alysa Liu won the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships and will perform her Olympic women's singles short program on Tuesday.
Liu said she hated skating and planned her exit for a year before quitting, leaving while still in puberty, putting her skates in the closet, and saying she didn't miss the ice.
After skating again for fun, Liu floated the comeback to longtime coach Phillip DiGuglielmo, who said, `We had a Zoom call for two hours` before resuming seven months of formal training.
DiGuglielmo said no one has taken a two-year break from skating and pulled off such a feat, and Liu now shapes her choreography and training with increased physical and mental strength.
During her two-year break, Liu enrolled at UCLA and took up skiing while spending time with siblings in Oakland, hiking in the Himalayas, and reconnecting with high-school friends.

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