As news of Alysa Liu stepping away from the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships made headlines in recent days, the Olympic champion’s interview about the “insane” realities behind competitive figure skating has now gone viral.
The timing of her unexpected withdrawal and the Rolling Stone interview published on Saturday, March 7, have sparked heated debate among fans about the pressures elite figure skaters face behind the scenes.
The 20-year-old star revealed that the sport’s demanding rules and relentless schedule once pushed her to retire at the height of her career, prompting one netizen to react, “The saddest thing about it is that there are still people… who are trying to justify t**turing a child this way.”
