Young Richmond figure skater could get the gold

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Twelve-year-old Alysa Liu scored an incredible 184 point 16 points to win the Junior Women's Title in the US Figure Skating Championships at the SAP center.

"Well, I was really shocked. I didn't believe it at first. Then it kicked in and I was really surprised," she said.

Surprised because she was sick with a bad cold.

"The night before the competition I got a really bad fever and my throat hurt," she said. "It was difficult to focus but I thought about my technique and jumps and I managed to get through the program."

Managed to just get through? Actually, she won with the second highest score ever in the junior division of the Championships.

This eighth grader is magical on the ice with her with her triple axles and lyrical lines.

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"I think it's hard work, talent and what kind of coach you have," she said.

And of course raw talent. Talent that her father Authur Liu says she exhibited when she was only five, when he took her to the skating rink.

Just half a year of group lesssons and he knew she was a natural.

"The first competition she entered and she was late, she got first place," said Arthur.

Alysa's coach Lara Lipetsky has been with her all the way. "She loves to skate," Lipetsky says. "She works hard and she loves challenges. And that's what makes a champion."

Even with her victories on the ice, the twelve-year-old is too young to compete in the Junior World Championships or the Olympics.

She's disappointed. "Because of the younger skaters like me, we're just as good as the older ones so I don't think age matters," she said.

What matters she says is the skating. If that's true guess what? Her coach says she hasn't even reached her full potential.