Alissa Czisny

Alissa Czisny (born June 25, 1987) is an American former competitive figure skater.

Alissa Czisny was born together with a fraternal twin sister, Amber, on June 25, 1987, in Sylvania, Ohio.

She is a summa cum laude graduate of Bowling Green State University where she was on a full academic scholarship while also competing at the international level and majored in international studies.

She took some of her classes online due to her skating, training, and traveling schedule.

Czisny is a vegetarian.

She took ballet lessons from a young age to improve her flexibility and strength.

In August 2022, Czisny married Canadian figure skater Kurt Browning.

Czisny began skating at age 1½ when she and her sister, Amber, accompanied their mother to the ice skating rink because they did not want to stay at home with the babysitter.

Czisny started skating in Bowling Green, Ohio, where Shelly Bressler was Czisny's first skating coach.

Julianne Berlin became her coach in 1998.

Czisny's first national medal came in 2001 where she finished 2nd in the junior event

Czisny finished 4th in her Grand Prix debut at 2004 Skate America, to which she was invited after Michelle Kwan withdrew.

Czisny first gained international attention when she won the gold medal at the 2005 Skate Canada International and silver at the 2005 Skate America where she received a standing ovation for her free program.

She qualified for the 2005–06 Grand Prix Final and placed sixth.

Czisny went on to the 2006 U.S. Championships in St. Louis, where she finished seventh overall.

She was one of four figure skaters featured on the 2006 TLC series, Ice Diaries.

Czisny began the season at the 2006 Skate Canada International where she placed fourth.

She also competed at the 2006 Cup of Russia in November.

At the 2007 U.S. Championships she was in fifth after the short program, but went on to win the free skate to win the bronze medal and the final U.S. spot to the 2007 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

Czisny finished third at the 2008 Skate Canada International in the 2008–09 Grand Prix series behind Joannie Rochette and Fumie Suguri.

At the 2009 U.S. Championships, she won the short program by over five points.

She finished third in the long program but won the gold medal due to her lead from the short.

Czisny won her first national title, ahead of Rachael Flatt and Caroline Zhang.

She earned her second trip to the Four Continents and the World Championships, in which she finished ninth and eleventh, respectively.

In the 2009–10 Grand Prix season, Czisny placed fourth at the 2009 Rostelecom Cup and won the silver medal at the 2009 Skate Canada International.

Her short program score of 63.52 was the fourth highest of this ISU Grand Prix season, only surpassed by Yuna Kim (two scores) and Joannie Rochette.

She is the 2010 Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time Skate Canada champion (2005, 2010), the 2011 Skate America champion, and a two-time U.S. national champion (2009, 2011).

Czisny placed tenth at the 2010 U.S. Championships; as a result, she did not make the Olympic team and financial support to help cover her mid-five-figure training expenses was cut.

In February 2010, she left coach Julianne Berlin, who had coached her for twelve years.

In May, she said she would remain at the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, with new coaches Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen.

She reworked her jump technique with the help of her new coaches, who also helped her with her mental approach.

She noted, "I finally realized that my results in skating didn't define who I am as a person."

Czisny began the 2010–11 season by winning the 2010 Skate Canada International, her first gold medal on the Grand Prix series since winning 2005 Skate Canada.

She won bronze at her second Grand Prix event, 2010 Trophée Eric Bompard, which combined with her Skate Canada result qualified her for the Grand Prix Final.

At the 2010–11 Grand Prix Final, Czisny won the short program with 63.76 points and placed third in the long program with a new personal best of 116.99 points.

She also found out her sister had cancer (in remission as of 2011).

Czisny considered retiring but her mentors Brian Boitano and Linda Leaver encouraged her to continue.

She also won Midwestern Sectionals, qualifying her to compete at US Nationals in 2011.

At the World Championships, she finished 15th.

She is also the 2019 and the 2021 U.S. Professional Open Grand Champion.