‘What the hell?’ Alysa Liu wins USA’s first women’s figure skating world title in 19 years

Liu completes stunning comeback with world titleJapan’s Sakamoto finishes second and Chiba third

Alysa Liu completed her stunning comeback to competitive figure skating with a world championship title on Friday night in Boston, becoming the first American woman to win the sport’s biggest competition outside the Olympics in nearly two decades.

The 19-year-old from Clovis, California, who vanished from the sport nearly three years ago uncertain if she’d ever return, delivered a spellbinding free skate inside a sold-out TD Garden to dethrone three-time defending champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan. Skating in a shimmering gold dress to the sounds of Boston-born Donna Summer, Liu landed all of her jumps cleanly and drew a standing ovation before finishing with 222.97 points overall – enough to secure gold in front of a rollicking home crowd.

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