Alysa Liu leads the U.S. contingent with an eighth place finish after the women’s short program at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. Mariah Bell is 11th and Karen Chen is 13th.
In her Olympic debut, Alysa Liu performed her program to “Gypsy Dance II” from Don Quixote. She earned Level 4 on three elements to earn 69.50 points.
“I am happy with what I did,” Liu said. “All of my training has been to get to the Olympics, and my dream has come true.”
Also making her Olympic debut, Mariah Bell performed her short program to “River Flowers in You” by Yiruma. She earned Level 4 on three elements en route to a score of 65.38.
“I have very mixed emotions about it,” Bell said. “I am bummed with the mistake on the opening element, but I am happy how I came back with everything else. Ultimately, I just really enjoyed skating on Olympic ice."
Two-time Olympian Karen Chen earned 64.11 points for her short program to “Requiem for a Dream” and “Requiem for a Tower.” She earned a Level 4 on two spins.
“I didn’t skate the way I wanted to skate and definitely not what I am capable of,” Chen said. “I need to just think about what went wrong and then move on into the long program.”
The Russian Olympic Committee currently holds the top two positions, with Kamila Valieva first with 82.16 and Anna Shcherbakova second with 80.20. Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto is in third with 79.84 points.
The women’s event concludes with the free skate beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17 (5 a.m. ET). Fans can follow along on the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone Competition Central.
