GREENSBORO, N.C.—Fourteen-year-old Alysa Liu landed the first quadruple jump in the U.S. ladies’ figure-skating championship to retain her national title and keep the U.S. in an ever-escalating technical arms race. But her standing ovation was one of three granted to female skaters Friday, all of them acknowledging the scramble within the sport to keep up with rapidly advancing demands, the repetitions required to perform them on command, and the personal costs of a cutthroat level of competition.

Source: Wall Street Journal January 25, 2020 08:03 UTC