Alysa Liu, 16, shines in Olympic figure skating debut 

Alysa Liu couldn't help but break into a big grin on Olympic ice.

The 16-year-old American figure skater, making her debut at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, had good reason to, skating to a 69.50 to place eighth in the women's short program.

Liu, who became the youngest American ever to win a national title at age 13 in 2019, is also the youngest member of the Team USA contingent - across any sport - at Beijing 2022.

She has secured her spot in Thursday (17 February)'s free skate.

Liu, who has a triple Axel in her repertoire, opted for a double Axel in the opening moments of her program, then added a triple flip and triple Lutz-triple toe-loop in combination in her skate, set to "Gypsy Dance."

"I'm really happy with how I skated," Liu told Olympics.com. "No matter how I did, I was going to be happy. I'm really glad that I went for all my jumps and I didn't fall."

Liu is first among her U.S. teammates, as reigning American champion Mariah Bell, fell on her opening triple Lutz-triple toe combination, but was impressive in the rest of her program to score a 65.38. She finished 11th.

Karen Chen skated in the final group of the women's short program, completing her triple-triple combo but fell on her final jump, a triple loop. She scored a 64.11 and will head into the free skate in 13th.

Liu said ice dance bronze medallist, Madison Hubbell, helped her get ready for the night, too: "[She] did my make-up for this competition, and I think I'll probably have her do it for the free skate. They all came to watch me, Mariah and Karen. I'm really excited to have them here cheering us on - I could feel their energy."

Also among the Americans cheering for Liu: Gold-medal men's skater Nathan Chen.