Recently, the Olympics have ended, and Team U.S.A’s women’s figure skater, Alysa Liu, has set new standards for the future of figure skating. Her short program score was 76.59, while her free skating score was 150.29, ending with a combined score of 226.79, while Sakamoto Kaori ended with a combined score of 224.9, in second place overall after Liu.
Although her skill is immensely impressive, this also allows her to set new standards for the future as someone who is both alternative and intricately connected with the younger generation. Despite popular beliefs of figure skating being a more ‘feminine’ sport, skaters are judged on how well they embody femininity or masculinity.
According to the U.S Figure Skating Organization, figure skaters are judged on their technicality and their program presentation. Their technical points come from the difficulty of their pre-planned jumps, but along with the figure skater’s execution when it comes to performing their planned program, their presentation and composition also go into their score. Liu’s presentation contrasts the ‘feminine’ expectations that are already set within the culture of figure skating.
Figure skaters are expected to align with the expectations of being ‘perfect,’ as seen with Kamila Valieva’s performance in the 2022 Beijing Olympics. According to the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s anti-doping rule, Valieva’s use of trimetazidine was shown with a positive test. This was told to her before she went onto the ice, causing Valieva to be under immense pressure from her coaches. Both the coach’s immense pressure and the doping scandal clouded her performance, not allowing her to perform to her fullest. The picture of perfection was forced onto Valieva, but Liu didn’t let that culture of figure skating get to her.
Liu’s ability to skate freely on the ice, to choose songs that were meaningful to her, like ‘Promise’ by Laufey and to be able to have a piercing lets her go against the ‘grain’ of perfection set by figure skaters in the past. Valieva had gotten extensive pressure from her doping scandal, her coach, and the audience around her; Liu did not do the same.
As perfection is expected, Liu certainly didn’t fit the mold of perfection people seek. Within the present day, people view piercings as a negative connotation. According to the Iowa State University, people who have piercings are less likely to be hired in the workplace. Liu, carrying a piercing, nonetheless a frenulum/smiley piercing, shows that she doesn’t care for the perfection set by the standards of figure skating, but instead shows that she holds responsibility for showing her true self instead of confining herself to the set standards.
Against the views of perfection and the expectations of what femininity can look like, she holds power in skill, as she ended in first place for women’s figure skating. Scoring a win for Team U.S.A, Liu’s free self holds a new standard for the future of figure skating. Connecting with the younger generation and not confining to typical beauty standards, she shows a potential to show for many other figure skaters that it’s okay to escape the mold.
