Milan, Italy
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After she finished her free skate, the house coming down all around her, Alysa Liu gave her ponytail a flick, stuck the toe of her skate into the ice and turned to take her bow.
Before she did, she dramatically brought both of her arms up and wiped her hands, as if to say, “Well, that’s done. Time to go hit a karaoke bar.”
Ordinarily, the only chill in figure skating emanates from the ice itself. Sports are inherently fraught with tension, but some seem preordained to it more than others.
Figure skating asks a singular athlete to stand alone on an ice rink. Nowhere to hide. No teammates to lean on. Literal bright lights bearing…