Alysa Liu Withdraws from Figure Skating World Championships After Winning Olympic Gold

After winning gold in the women's singles and team events at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics last month, Alysa Liu will not compete at the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships later this month in Prague.

According to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN), Liu is not on the entry list for the world championships. With Liu opting to withdraw, Team USA will be represented by fellow Olympians Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito, as well as Sarah Everhardt.

Liu won the world championship for the first time in her career last year, meaning there will be a new world champion crowned in women's singles figure skating in Prague.

The 20-year-old Liu was a figure skating prodigy at a young age, winning the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 2019 and 2020 at the ages of 13 and 14.

After competing at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and then winning bronze in women's singles at the 2022 world championships, Liu shockingly retired from figure skating.

Liu returned to the sport in 2024, but she decided to do it on her terms, as she insisted on having input on all aspects of her training and performances rather than being told what to do.

A two-year layoff is difficult to come back from in the highly competitive world of figure skating, but Liu did it seamlessly, winning the first world championship gold by an American in women's singles since Kimmie Meissner in 2006.

Then, Liu became the first American woman to win Olympic gold in singles figure skating since Sarah Hughes in 2002.

After finishing third in the short program portion of women's singles at the Olympics, Liu dominated the free skate, which allowed her to surpass Japan's Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai to top the podium.

Liu's absence in Prague will open the door for Glenn to potentially vie for her first world championship.

Glenn was the U.S. champion in 2024, 2025 and 2026, and she entered the 2026 Winter Olympics as a top contender to win gold.

While Glenn did win gold along with Liu in the team event, she struggled during the short program and had to settle for a fifth-place finish off the podium.

Glenn will undoubtedly be Team USA's best medal hope in Prague on the women's side, and a win would go a long way toward erasing the disappointment she endured in Milano Cortina.