Alysa Liu won the women's figure skating world title on Friday, delivering a dazzling free skate to edge three-time defending champion Kaori Sakamoto.
Liu, who walked away from the sport in 2022 at the age of 16 and returned just a year ago, defied the pressure Sakamoto piled on with a brilliant free skate of her own and became the first U.S. woman to win the world title since Kimmie Meissner in 2006.
"This is an insane story," Liu, still just 19, told broadcaster NBC. "I don't know how I came back to be world champion. I never would have thought."
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