Two-time champ Alysa Liu withdraws from US nationals due to Covid-19

• Two-time US champ and Olympic hopeful Liu out with Covid-19
• Liu (71.42) trails Bell (75.55) and Chen (74.55) after short program

Two-time champion Alysa Liu withdrew from the US figure skating championships after testing positive for Covid-19 on Friday, less than a day after a third-place finish in the short program put her in position to make the Olympic team.

The 16-year-old Liu is at least the fourth competitor to test positive for the virus in the run-up and during nationals, and the third that was expected to make the team for the Beijing Games. The pairs tandem of Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier dropped out the day before the start of competition when he returned a positive test.