American figure skater Alysa Liu takes the lead on the opening night of the world championships

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BOSTON (AP) — American figure skater Alysa Liu assumed the lead after the short program on the opening night of the world championships on Wednesday, proving that the Olympian is much farther along in her comeback from retirement than almost anyone thought.

The 19-year-old from Clovis, California, had to fight back some tears — and stop some lips from quivering — after scoring her international-best 74.58 points for her program, set to the song “Promise” by Laufey and Dan Wilson. Mone Chiba of Japan was second with 73.44 points while U.S. teammate Isabeau Levito, the reigning silver medalist, was third with 73.33 points.

“Outside of scores, I think I skated the best out of any competition,” said Liu, who retired after the 2022 world championships, only to announce early last year that she would be making a comeback with an eye on the Milano-Cortina Olympics.

Three-time defending world champion Kaori Sakamoto was fifth with 71.03 points as she tries to become the first to win four consecutive titles since Carol Heiss in the 1950s and ’60s. Two-time defending U.S. champion Amber Glenn, who was among the favorites in Boston, fell on her opening triple axel and was ninth with 67.65 points.

Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., posted a season-best 69.18 to place sixth after delivering a clean skate to her “Lion King” short program, putting her in position to help Canada secure two quota spots for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.

Schizas secured one by qualifying for Friday’s free skate. She’ll need to finish in the top 10 to earn her country a second in the women’s event.

The 22-year-old placed 12th at the 2022 world championships, her best result. She finished 18th on home soil last year in Montreal.

“I was feeling confident, I came in really confident,” Schizas said. “I felt a little bit nervous because I had a weird fall on one of my jumps in the run-through of short program yesterday here, so I was a little nervous from that, but I knew if I just focused I was gonna be able to pull it out.

“I’m happy that we have one (Olympic) spot qualified now, and I’m hoping to make it two after the free skate.”

The event continues Wednesday night with the pairs short program, where Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada will be trying to defend their title. The U.S.-born Stellato-Dudek recently became a Canadian citizen.

The duo will have competition from Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany, who are coming off their title at the prestigious Grand Prix Final, and Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, the world champions two years ago.

The men’s competition and ice dance begin Thursday. All of the medals will be decided by Saturday night.

The worlds are being hosted by the renowned Skating Club of Boston, which had six members killed nearly two months ago, when an American Airlines flight collided with an Army helicopter near Washington. Skaters from the world over said this week that they hoped their performances would be a cathartic experience for a tight-knit community still grieving.

“The kids we lost — across the country — were the future of the sport,” said Doug Zeghibe, the CEO of the club, which produced such champions as Dick Button, Tenley Albright and Nancy Kerrigan. “So it’s really nice to see this being acknowledged.”

The final world championships before the Milano-Cortina Olympics are also important for establishing the quotas for the Winter Games. The number of entries for each nation will be decided by how its best skaters finish in each discipline this week.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports