19-yr-old American wins stunning gold at figure skating worlds, PHOTOS

sports history 10:44 AM 0 Comments

IMAGES: American, Alysa Liu, 19, stuns with gold at world skating championships after return from retirement, Photos.

— Alysa Liu let out a shocked smile Friday night, as the crowd at TD Garden roared and the stuffed animals began to rain down on the ice.

Three years after retiring, and one year after unretiring, she was, improbably, a world champion.

Liu became the first American woman in nearly two decades to win a world figure skating title Friday, clinching history with a brilliant, poised performance to the music of Boston-born disco artist Donna Summer. After winning the short program portion of the women's singles competition earlier this week, she won the free skate, too − sealing her place atop the podium with the final performance of the night.

Liu, 19, leapfrogged three-time defending world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan to win the gold with a total score of 222.97. Mone Chiba, who is also from Japan, took bronze, while Americans Isabeau Levito and Amber Glenn finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

When asked if she expected to be a world champion when she returned to competition last year, Liu laughed. No. No she did not.

It's the first time an American woman has topped the world championship podium since Kimmie Meissner in 2006.

Liu started skating at 5 years old at a rink near her Richmond, California home, and it didn't take long for her potential to be recognized. By the time she turned 9, according to NBC Sports, she was waking up at 4:30 a.m. for private training sessions. By 12, she was landing a triple axel − the most difficult jump in women's figure skating − in competition. And by 13, she was already a national champion at the senior level.

Last spring, Liu reached out to Phillip DiGuglielmo, who had coached her off and on since she was a kid. She told him she wanted to come back to competition. He said he poured a glass of wine and tried to talk her out of it.