On Friday, March 28, Alysa Liu did what no one thought she could. The 19-year old American figure skater competed in and won a figure skating world title, becoming the first American woman in almost two decades to do so.

The skater previously had won an individual title at the US figure skating championships at 13, then proceeded to compete at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and medal at the world championships just a little later. However, she then chose to retire to focus on more than just skating, and peacefully continue her life.

Finding herself on the rink yet again, almost three years since she chose to retire from the sport, she didn’t allow herself to expect anything, much less winning. Even then, her free skate was essentially flawless in the eyes of the judges, allowing her to score a total of 222.97 points across both the short program and free skate, putting her in first place.