World bronze medallist Alysa Liu has retired from figure skating ©Getty Images

American figure skater Alysa Liu has announced her retirement from the sport aged just 16, two weeks after winning a bronze medal at the World Championships.

Liu, who began skating at the age of five, announced her decision on Instagram alongside photos from her skating career.

"I honestly never thought I would've accomplished as much as I did LMAOO I'm so happy," Liu wrote. 

"I feel so satisfied with how my skating career has gone.

"Now that I'm finally done with my goals in skating I'm going to be moving on with my life."


Liu won her first national title in 2019, breaking Tara Lipinski‘s record as the youngest US champion ever aged 13. 

She repeated as champion in 2020 and took home bronze from the 2020 Junior World Championships in Estonia's capital Tallinn. 

Liu had to withdraw from the US Figure Skating Championships in January this year after a positive COVID-19 test, but was selected for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. 

Liu finished seventh in the women's singles at Beijing 2022 on Olympic debut.

At an unusual World Championships taking place without Russian athletes in Montpellier in March, Liu finished third behind Japan's Kaori Sakamoto and Belgium's Loena Hendrickx.

Liu landed a triple Axel in her free skate en route to claiming the bronze medal.

The two-time national figure skating champion was also the youngest woman to land a triple Axel internationally and the first American woman to land a quadruple jump in competition at the age of 14.

Alysa Liu won bronze in the women's singles at the World Figure Skating Championships last month ©Getty Images
Alysa Liu won bronze in the women's singles at the World Figure Skating Championships last month ©Getty Images

The youngest-ever US figure skating champion said she has had an "insane 11 years" years on the ice, experiencing "a lot of good and a lot of bad".

Liu and her father, a political refugee from China, were among those targeted in a spying operation that the US Justice Department presumes was organised by the Chinese Government, according to the older Liu.

The retirement announcement comes as the International Skating Union (ISU) debates whether to increase the age limit for figure skaters.

The current limit is 15, but the ISU Congress is to vote on raising this to 17 in June.

Beijing 2022 sparked fresh debate over the ethics of athletes so young competing in elite figure skating, especially in the wake of the doping scandal 15-year-old Russian Olympic Committee athlete Kamila Valieva was at the centre of.

Liu plans to spend time with family and friends post-retirement and continue with her studies.

Liu has been home-schooled through an online programme used by other US skaters Karen Chen and Vincent Zhou, called California Connections Academy, for several years.