Chelsea Liu

Chelsea Liu (born December 31, 1999) is an American pair skater.

With her former partner, Balázs Nagy, she is the 2023 Skate America bronze medalist and 2024 U.S. national pewter medalist.

With Xie Zhong for China, Liu is the 2020 Chinese national bronze medalist.

With Brian Johnson, she won two medals on the ISU Challenger Series. They also competed together at one ISU Junior Grand Prix Final and two World Junior Championships.

Personal life

Chelsea Liu was born December 31, 1999, in Marshall, Missouri. The daughter of Tingyuan Liu and Koman Ting, she has an older sister, Chaochih, who competed for Chinese Taipei, and a younger sister, Cheyenne.

Career

Early years

Liu began skating in 2006. She teamed up with Devin Perini in July 2010. They debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series in 2013, placing fifth at both of their assignments, before winning the junior silver medal at the 2014 U.S. Championships.

Partnership with Brian Johnson for the United States

Liu teamed up with Brian Johnson in May 2014. They were coached by Todd Sand and Jenni Meno in Orange County, California.

During the 2014–15 JGP series, Liu/Johnson won a bronze medal in Dresden, Germany and placed fourth in Zagreb, Croatia. Their results gave them a spot at the 2014–15 JGP Final in Barcelona, Spain, where the pair finished sixth. After winning the junior silver medal at the 2015 U.S. Championships, they were assigned to the 2015 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia. The pair placed fifth in the short program, 8th in the free skate, and seventh overall.

Competing in the 2015–16 JGP series, Liu/Johnson placed eighth in Linz, Austria and fifth in Toruń, Poland. Ranked fifth in both segments, the pair finished fifth at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary.

The pair parted ways following a seventh-place finish at the 2018 U.S. Championships.

Partnership with Xie Zhong for China

2019–20 season

Prior to the 2019–20 season, Liu teamed up with Chinese pair skater, Xie Zhong, to compete for China. Throughout the season, they competed at Chinese domestic events and won the bronze medal 2020 Chinese Championships. The pair parted ways at the end of the season.

Partnership with Danny O'Shea for the United States

2021–22 season

On June 29, 2021, NBC Sports published an article announcing new partnership with Danny O'Shea.

Liu/O'Shea finished fifth in their international debut at the Cranberry Cup, and went on to make their Grand Prix debut together at the 2021 Skate America, where they came seventh. However, their partnership was derailed by an on-ice accident at the 2021 CS Warsaw Cup that left both concussed. They withdrew from the 2022 U.S. Championships, and ultimately their partnership ended.

Partnership with Balázs Nagy for the United States

2023–24 season

Following the end of her partnership with O'Shea and requiring months off for concussion recovery, Liu contemplated retiring from competitive skating, later explaining that "I thought, 'You know, recover and live kind of a normal, safe life for the time being.' I took a whole eight months off the ice to recover and at that point I just didn't know if skating was in the picture for me." However, with encouragement from her parents to revisit whether she still wanted to pursue it, she tried out with Balázs Nagy in April 2023. The two announced their partnership in May.

Liu/Nagy made their domestic debut by winning the Glacier Falls Summer Classic, before being sent to make their international debut on the Challenger debut at the 2023 CS Autumn Classic International. They attracted notice for their innovative climactic lift in the free skate, but finished fourth. They were subsequently invited to make their Grand Prix debut at the 2023 Skate America, finishing third in the short program with a new personal best score (61.23). They were third in the free skate as well, despite Liu making two Salchow errors, winning the bronze medal. Liu said that "winning a medal on the Grand Prix is great, but what feels even better is that we put out a great program." Liu/Nagy went on to place sixth at the 2023 NHK Trophy.

In advance of the 2024 U.S. Championships, Liu/Nagy were preemptively assigned to the American team for the 2024 Four Continents Championships in Shanghai, which were to occur a week after the national championship. At the national championships, they finished sixth in the short program. In the free skate they came third in the segment, moving up to fourth overall in the process, despite struggles on their jump and throw elements. Nagy said they were "a little bit frustrated that we were not able to show off our throws the way they've been in training." At the Four Continents Championships the following weekend, Liu/Nagy came third in the short program, winning a bronze small medal, despite Liu stumbling out of her jump. Liu said that they had "been working so hard on our throws and they've been so good since the New Year. I'm super happy that we were able to show that." They had a difficult free skate, and dropped to seventh.

On March 26, Liu announced she had ended her partnership with Nagy to prioritize her mental health.

Partnership with Ryan Bedard

2025–26 season

In July 2025, it was announced that Liu had teamed up with fellow American pair skater, Ryan Bedard.

They made their debut as a pair team at the 2025 CS John Nicks International Pairs Competition, where they finished in sixth place. This was then followed up with a bronze medal win at the 2025 Tayside Trophy and seventh at the 2025 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb.

In January, Liu/Bedard competed at the 2026 U.S. Championships, where they finished in eighth place.

Programs

With Bedard

With Nagy

With O'Shea

With Meyh

With Johnson

With Perini

Competitive highlights

Pair skating with Ryan Bedard (for the United States)

Pair skating with Balázs Nagy (for the United States)

Pair skating with Daniel O'Shea (for the United States)

Pair skating with Xie Zhong (for China)

Pair skating with Ian Meyh (for the United States)

Pair skating with Brian Johnson (for the United States)

Pair skating with Devin Perini (for the United States)

Detailed results

Pair skating with Ryan Bedard (for the United States)

Pair skating with Balázs Nagy (for the United States)

Pair skating with Daniel O'Shea

External links

• at the International Skating Union
• at the International Skating Union
• at the International Skating Union
• at the International Skating Union
• at the International Skating Union
• at the International Skating Union
• at U.S. Figure Skating
• at InterSportStats
• on Instagram