Alysa Liu was crowned the youngest American ladies champion ever on Friday night after easily winning the free skate competition at the US Figure Skating Championships in Detroit.
The 13-year-old dynamo skated a solid routine that included two triple axels to finish with a 217.51 total score which put her almost four points ahead of defending champion and runner-up Bradie Tennell.
Tennell, who fell during her free skate, finished with 213.59 points and Mariah Bell was third with 212.40 at Little Caesars Arena. Hanna Harrell finished a distant fourth with 203.11. Liu’s victory was stunning because of her young age. But it was helped along by an unusually high number of Olympians and ex-national champions who either withdrew or decided not to travel to Detroit, including three-time national champ Ashley Wagner, and Olympic bronze medalists Gracie Gold, Karen Chen and Mirai Nagasu.
