Explaining the Alysa Liu story:
Did you note that a big part of what motivated Liu to retire when she was 16 was that she didn't want other people controlling what she ate, and that when she decided to come out of retirement she specified that she must have autonomy over her own eating, and that — at the Olympics, winning the gold yesterday — she did not look like the other skaters. She is not pared down to extreme skinniness. She looks like a healthy, strong 20 year old woman. And she looks actively happy.
An America female skater had not won the gold since 2002. I hope Liu's win represents a new American spirit that favors full-grown healthy, happy women (and men) and turns away from the grim exploitation of children.
AND: "MacArthur Park" — I love that.
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36 కామెంట్లు:
Nadia vs the Dictator
Revolution Games.
GenZ kids are all right
The USOC is just as full of bureaucrats as any other US government endeavor, and all the problems that creates. Coaching, just like career politicians are attracted to bad ideas rejected by the marketplace if for no other reason than the marketplace rejected them. Like, their own hubris makes them believe they have a gift of identifying talent at younger and younger ages, picking out the early bloomers for added attention and training, grinding them thru the mill. Meanwhile winter powerhouses like Norway give everyone opportunity and they wait for their athletes to mature before any conclusions are made..
This is the same dynamic as ballet. Overbearing dance masters that pressure young girls into eating disorders that last a lifetime, all in the name of the equivalent of a talent show. Parents really need to pay attention to the influences they've entrusted their kid's development to. This is a strong girl.
she did not look like the other skaters.
The podium photos really showed that, it was striking.
“Hiked to the Mount Everest base camp.” Very sensible to stop there, and now she has climbed her own pinnacle.
“She is not pared down to extreme skinniness. She looks like a healthy, strong 20 year old woman.”
Might work for skaters. I’m not so sure about gymnastics, though.
The Tik Toker Liu-claiming looks under nourished.
A wonderful story, but that lip/gum piercing is disturbing (she did it herself).
A great story and congratulations to Liu.
Gu can dine on poo… on her way to China.
I bet Jimmy Webb is smiling.
So, I am guessing that when you let athletes be themselves and put their own joy first, they all win the gold medal? Is that how it works? Or do some of them not win the gold medal, even though they are being themselves and putting their own joy first?
Wonderful.
I find figure skating to be boringly repetitive, but her performance did stand out as being flawless, and the most confident and natural I think I've ever seen. It was like nobody was watching. Best of all: proud of her country.
I like watching happy, healthy, hot young women disport themselves in artful athleticism, and she's one of the best.
I haven't watched it with the sound up yet. I hate that song.
The surprising and possibly fake news was that someone left the cake out in the rain. You don't see that every day.
Her performance yesterday was magical - there was so much joy in it, it was hard to believe she was skating in Olympic competition. I happened to walk into the work kitchen as she was starting to skate and I couldn't stop watching. It's hard to stand still while watching her; she makes you wish you were on the ice moving around with her.
I grew up skating, but not competitively (or very well, to be honest); in youth sports terms, I was on an ordinary LL team that can't refuse you a spot, not part of a travel baseball team. But we "ordinary" skaters shared locker rooms and some ice times with the "real" skaters, and you've never met such a spoiled and yet miserable group of girls in your life. A mom who on the one hand warm your skates up with a hairdryer before kneeling before you to tie them, and on the other controls every moment of your day and every mouthful of food you eat. Parents who send you 100s of miles away to board in a "skater's house" so you can train and never see your family. They were clique-y, mean, unhappy girls who drove everyone normal away from the sport. Given my experience with that environment, it's nice to see Alysa Liu be so free and happy. God bless her.
And not just "MacArthur Park", the Donna Summer "MacArthur Park"!
I have seen many ice skaters perform in shows and competitions over the years. Alysa Liu has that rare quality of connecting with the audience while skating with top skill and freedom. I saw her short program in person at the World Championships last year. She and Ilia Malinin both share that special quality.
That's apparently becoming something of A Thing amongst ballerinas, quitting the starved-teenager look for better nutrition and weight training. I admit they look exceedingly better than the usual heroin-chic sort.
Minimum age change critical. Better young skaters excluded. Prior Olympic podiums dominated by young girls.
Also great story about her immigrant father who came from PRC in '89 before she born, spied on by his government.
bagoh20 said... “I find figure skating to be boringly repetitive….” I agree that it can be, due to the program element requirements for number and combo of jumps and spins. It’s really the choreography that separates an excellent program from the very good. You really have to love the sport to sit and watch every competitor and analyze each element over and over.
Alysa appeared so relaxed and determined to have fun with the program that it was a joy to watch. Congrats to her for setting the terms for her comeback and sticking to it. Her coaches both teach in Oakland and in San Francisco where I skate. They’re exacting with their students but at least when I see them with us “adult” skaters they’re also fun and friendly. It’s amazing to watch them when they occasionally cut loose and really show their stuff.
When I was a kid I watched every Olympics and then promptly went out to my makeshift ice rink in the back yard and tried to mimic those movements myself. Of course in a pair of basic recreational skates it was tough going. Even now with amazing skates, fitted and sharpened perfectly, it’s still hard. I’m middle-aged now so the crashes and spills are much more painful. But when you finally master a jump or pull off that perfect spin it’s absolutely exhilarating.
Jupiter: “ do some of them not win the gold medal, even though they are being themselves and putting their own joy first?”
Well what’s better: a lot of losers who beat themselves half to death for their whole childhood, or a lot of losers who had fun?
The 1890s Olympic revival was about the joy of amateurism (literally lovers of the sport). There was a certain amount of class snobbery in the exclusion of professionals. But also the idea that people had real lives to lead.
Working kids to the bone, even though the parents are paying out the ass for it, also violates the spirit of amateurism. Not even the 19th century professional boat rowers, sled drivers, etc, were worked that hard. CC, JSM
She definitely has star quality. She will inevitably be juxtaposed against Eileen Gu, the American born, Chinese skier who is competing for China. The comparison will be to the advantage of Alysa. I read somewhere that Eileen is the Olympian who makes the most money--something like twenty million a year. Well, records are meant to be broken.
That was very nice. But I'd make a terrible Judge for ice skating because unless they fall down or do something obviously wrong, they all seem great to me.
I don't know why ice skaters need to get down to "extreme thinness". i guess it helps a little on the jumps, but it cant make that much difference.
Even when I was young, i could barely get around the rink despite doing well in other sports. The idea of jumping and landing on ice skates seems incredible.
"Also great story about her immigrant father who came from PRC in '89 before she born, spied on by his government."
I heard that she (and her father) rejected China's offers, unlike Gu. Good for her and Dad.
2/20/26, 3:07 PM
Poetry in motion. Well-done!
““I don't know why ice skaters need to get down to "extreme thinness.”
I used ChatGPT to research this question and the trainers believe that being very low weight and very narrow in shape, helps achieve rotation in the jumps. So the skater might not actually be that strong, but she has so little weight to power into the jump that she can do it. But another reason is also the stereotype — the ideal of a very willowy and ethereal female. The skaters are judged on how they look, the artistic effect. And that’s subjective. What do people want? Maybe they want someone unearthly. Why are people anorexic?
Same with ballerinas.
The last figure skater I watched and enjoyed was Peggy Fleming. Don't remember if she was pre-anorexic or not but, a beautiful and talented athlete.
Peggy Fleming definitely had some substance to her. CC, JSM
"...I used ChatGPT to research this question and the trainers believe that being very low weight and ..."
As in ballet, it depends on the case. For individual performances, I would guess on balance that the loss of strength is limiting. But in paired figure skating as in ballet, if a male dancer/skater has to pick the female up or do something athletic with her, then weight is of course a definite limiting factor. Some of the pas de deux that I've seen that are difficult and quite dangerous if something were to go wrong, come to mind.
Katarina Witt was a sizable sylph, IIRC.
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