BOSTON – In her first figure skating career, the one she ended with a retirement three years ago at age 16, Alysa Liu won national titles, made history as the youngest this and the youngest that, did landmark jumps for a U.S. woman, competed in the Olympics and won a world championships bronze medal.
The way Liu describes all that now, it was a pretty joyless experience.
She didn’t like to practice. That meant she rarely went into a competition as prepared as she needed to be. That — and injuries — made her performances erratic.
“It was a job,” she said.