Alysa Liu‘s former figure skating coach, Laura Lipetsky, has slammed claims that she once mistreated the athlete by not allowing her to drink water during training.
In response to the allegations, she said that athlete health and safety have always been a top priority for her, and insisted that she never acted in that manner or prevented Liu from taking care of her physical needs.
Alysa Liu and Lipetsky shared a working relationship that spanned nearly a decade, ultimately ending in 2020.
Laura Lipetsky Says Alysa Liu Was Never Prevented From Having Water
Taking to Facebook, Alysa Liu’s former figure skating coach, Laura Lipetsky, penned a lengthy post in which she addressed rumors of banning the rathlete from drinking water during training.
“There has been a rumor circulating that I did not allow Alysa to drink water during training. This is simply not true,” the coach wrote on her page, alongside an image with the quote, “the hate always comes from below, not above” in all caps.
Defending herself further, Lipetsky stated that she has always prioritized the health and safety of those she has coached and that “at no time was Alysa ever prevented from having water or taking care of her physical needs.”
“Training at a high level requires discipline, structure, and mutual trust between coach and athlete. But that has never meant denying something as basic and important as hydration,” the veteran coach further remarked.
The Veteran Coach Reflected On Training The Athlete
Elsewhere in the post, Lipetsky reflected on her work with Liu, saying she was “proud” of it and wished the athlete success in her future endeavors.
The veteran coach added that she and Liu “had a lot of fun together” during her years as a coach, seemingly to further downplay the rumors.
”We played games on the ice, I made sure she had time to play with her friends on the ice, we laughed a ton, only trained 4 hours during the week, Saturdays were only 45min, Sundays – she went to another rink or train on her own because SHE wanted to,” Lipetsky continued, per Us Weekly.
The Olympian’s Former Coach Called For The Hate Towards Her To Stop
According to the personal trainer, at no point during her time with Liu was she ever forced to do anything, and that the multiple Olympic medalist was “self-driven and loved to skate.”
She also called on her naysayers to stop spreading misinformation about her mistreating Liu.
“I just kept her passion alive. So please stop the hate towards me and get the timelines right. Thank you,” Lipetsky concluded.
Alysa Liu Called Her Training With Laura Lipetsky ‘Insane’
Earlier in the month, Liu told Rolling Stone that training with Lipetsky was insane, and also made the claim about the alleged lack of water breaks.
“It was crazy,” Liu told the outlet at the time. “They were like, ‘Oh, water weight. You shouldn’t drink water. You should gargle it.’ Crazy. It’s insane.”
The remarks sparked a number of reactions on social media, with some netizens noting that having no water breaks was too intense.
“I get wanting to keep track of metrics for athletes, but that’s f-cking crazy,” one wrote, while another commented, “that’s brutal.
“Next-level body torture in the name of gold,” one other netizen commented.
Alysa Liu Previously Revealed Why She Quit Skating For A While
Liu began training with Lipetsky at just 5 years old, and ultimately parted ways in 2020.
Two years later, Liu announced her retirement from the sport but made a comeback in 2025 and went on to win gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Reflecting on her earlier decision to step away, Liu told the Associated Press that she had grown tired of a life entirely consumed by skating, without the chance to experience anything beyond the rink.
“I really had nothing going on with my life, you know? Just training,” Liu revealed. “I would live at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado, in a dorm by myself. I would eat their food. I went to the rink, skated, ate lunch there, skated some more. Went back to the dorm. I didn’t go anywhere. I didn’t see anything. I was just there,”
She added, “And so all that, I was like, ‘Skating is not worth it.’ Like, this is not worth it.’ ”
