Photo credit Melanie Heaney/U.S. Figure Skating
By Elvin Walker
The last time an American woman captured the World Championships crown, 19-year-old Alysa Liu was seven months old. A little over a year ago, the San Francisco Bay Area native was enjoying retirement from the sport to which she had dedicated most of her young life, blissfully unaware what the world had in store for her. Tonight, in front of a capacity crowd at Boston’s TD Garden, Liu became the 14th American woman to have the honor of ascending to the top of the World Championships podium.
“I haven’t been on my phone yet, so I don’t know who has called to congratulate me,” Liu said after the competition. “When I do have a minute, the first people I am going to call is my siblings because they have no idea that this is happening.”
Liu’s victory is as unexpected as it is remarkable for the simple fact that this season was, in the gold medalist’s words, “just for fun.” But as Liu trained, the competitive drive that propelled her to win two U.S. titles, an Olympic team berth and a bronze medal at the World Championships three years ago kicked into overdrive. A steely competitor, Liu’s infectious joy for competition could be felt all the way up into the rafters, and as her Donna Summer “MacArthur Park” free skate progressed, so too did her grit and determination.
“I have never regretted anything in my life – every decision that I made, I am glad that I did,” stated Liu who has now medaled in both her World Championships appearances. “It all brought me to this moment.”
Dressed appropriately in gold, Liu connected on each of her jumping passes – landing seven triple jumps – secured Level 4s on each of her spins and step sequences, and earned positive grades of execution on every element en route the crown. Her free skate score of 148.39 was her best this season by 16.93 points.
Her total competition score, 222.97 points, is not only an international personal best but also the second-highest ever by an American woman, making her the one to beat heading into Milano Cortina.
“This means so much to me,” Liu said of her victory. “Everything that I have been through – my time away and all that. This time around I’m so happy, I guess. I’m mostly glad that I could put out two of my best performances, and I am really happy with how things went today.”
Silver a year ago, Isabeau Levito put up a great fight in defense of her international standing, but just fell short of the podium, finishing in fourth. The 18-year-old fell on the back half of her opening triple flip-triple toe loop combination, the lone glaring error in her “Liebestraum” free skate.
“After that first jump, I wanted to leave the ice,” Levito admitted. “I was like, ‘Why did you do that?’ But I am just glad that I kept fighting until the end. Usually when I compete, I tell myself no matter what happens in the program, to fight for each element because you never know what might happen.”
Levito’s program read like a poem – deep edges that gently caressed the ice but with passion that could only come from the heart. The New Jersey native landed five clean triple jumps to go along with Level 4 elements from start to finish, earning Levito 136.51 points in the segment and a season’s international best 209.84 points overall.
“I love how it’s dainty and pretty,” Levito shared. “I love that part of the sport – getting to play different characters.”
Two-time U.S. champion Amber Glenn moved up from ninth place after the short program to finish in fifth place overall – her best World Championships placement in three tries. Tallying 138.00, the 25-year-old opened with a solid triple Axel in her “I Will Find You The Return” routine before barreling into arguably the best triple flip-triple toe loop combination of her season.
“I’m proud of myself for fighting,” Glenn said. “The audience really got me through the program.”
Glenn acknowledged that her coach, Damon Allen, has been a consistent support for her, and she is happy to have him in her corner.
“I have been dealing with a lot of mental health struggles and a lot of grief and loss,” Glenn revealed. “Coming into this event, I didn’t exactly feel like the powerful (competitor) that I need be.
“Damon takes me for who I am and where I am in the moment,” she continued. “If I’m upset and think that everything is not fine, he doesn’t try to convince me that it is. He just helps me work through it, and that has been a big help.”
The 2024 Grand Prix Final champion was credited with seven triple jumps in her program with the lone mistake coming on a triple flip attempt that she doubled. Glenn finished the competition with 205.65 points.
This marks the first time three U.S. women have finished in the top five at Worlds 2001 (Michelle Kwan, Sarah Hughes, Angela Nikodinov). The results guaranteed the United States three quota spots for both the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 and the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2026.
In the afternoon session, Madison Chock and Evan Bates took the first step in defending their World title, finishing in first place in the rhythm dance. The duo is seeking their third consecutive title, a feat that would give them the most titles by any U.S. team in history.
“We were so happy with our performance today. It was probably the most fun that I’ve had on competitive ice. Maybe ever,” Chock said. “It was a joy to share that in front of a home crowd and with Evan.”
The 2022 Olympic team event gold medalists took advantage of the prescribed ‘Social Dances of the ‘50s, ‘60s, and 70s’ theme for this season’s rhythm dance, sampling the sounds of each decade as if they had been plucked right out of a high school gymnasium. But the program was more than just a bundle of fun – Chock and Bates are also master technicians who executed strong technical elements, including a Level 4 on the twizzles and their closing rotational lift. The only team to break the 50-point barrier for executed elements, the U.S. champions finished the day with an international season’s best 90.18 points, the highest rhythm dance mark of any team worldwide so far this season.
“Doing that last lift and hearing the audience – that feeling and the audience response was incredible,” Bates shared. “It also rested my nerve a little bit because I could feel the anticipation coming, but it was just wonderful.”
The current U.S. silver medalists, Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko finished in sixth place with 81.51 points, the first time that the duo has broken the 80-point barrier in an international competition.
“We’ve been training really hard and this felt like that hard work is paying off,” Carreira said. “I think it was our best performance of the season, so I’m happy to have end this program with such a high.”
Skating to music by Etta James and Little Richard, Carreira and Ponomarenko acknowledged that they felt relaxed and in control throughout the program, allowing the duo to attack their high energy choreography. Coupled with the fourth-highest technical score of the afternoon, the duo is in a great position heading into tomorrow’s free dance, less than a point out of fifth place.
“We have been building up our stamina all season to be able to compete these programs full out,” Ponomarenko shared. “We’ve done a bit more cardio than we have in previous seasons and it kind of built up a lot for the U.S. Championships. But this feels like we are at a peak and that’s very exciting.”
Rounding out Team USA’s entries in Boston, Caroline Green and Michael Parsons returned to the World Championships after a sixth-place finish two seasons ago. The U.S. bronze medalists agreed that today’s performance, for which they were placed seventh, was the best of the season for them.
“I think that we started out this season with the goal of rebuilding, but then we quickly found out that there was no need, that we just had to be ourselves and push ourselves to find new sides to our skating,” Parsons said after the performance. “That lasted about halfway through the season and then we realized that we are better than we have been, and we’re peaking at the right moment and are just enjoying it.”
Green and Parsons took a different approach to their program, opting for a folk-rock vibe highlighted by Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots are Made for Walkin’.” With groovy choreography and level four twizzles, the duo finished in seventh place with a season’s international best 77.51 points.
“I think that we have really started to trust ourselves, our training, and our team,” Green said of their confidence in the performance. “We have been able to lean on them fully throughout this whole journey.”
Competition concludes Saturday with the free dance and men’s free skate. For full results, how to watch information and more, visit the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2025 Competition Central.
