“Winning isn’t all that, and neither is losing. It’s just something that happens. It’s the outcome. But what matters is the input and the journey. And I would say take a break. I take breaks even now, and I think that’s the way to do it.”
Alysa Liu is a recent Olympic gold medalist for figure skating at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
Born in Oakland, California, Liu began skating for fun at the young age of five and started competitive skating at 12.
In 2019, she would become the youngest U.S. women’s figure skating champion. That very same year at the Detroit National Championships, she became the first U.S woman to land three triple axels.
A triple axel is a three-and-a-half-turn in the air, taking off forward, which is not commonly performed by women competitively due to its difficulty
At the World Junior Figure Skating Championships, she became the first woman to perform a triple axel and a quadruple lutz in a single choreographed routine. She took home a bronze medal at the end of the championship.
Her last performance before retiring at 16 was after the 2022 Beijing Olympics and World Championships. She aided the U.S. Team to a bronze medal in Beijing and a seventh-place finish in the women’s singles.
Liu would leave competitive figure skating to pursue ordinary teenage activities outside of it.
She would attend the University of California, Los Angeles in 2023 after high school.
Liu would inevitably return to competitive skating at the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, immediately earn a silver medal, and then reclaim a gold medal at the World Figure Skating Championships that same year for the U.S., a feat not achieved since 2006.
Returning to the Winter Olympics, Liu caught the public’s attention with her striking hair and facial piercing, not often seen in competitive figure skating.
She would take Gold for the U.S. in the women’s single skating and team events. Her win in the singles would make her the first woman in 24 years to obtain one for the U.S. figure skating since Sarah Hudges. She would find herself gaining a massive number of followers on TikTok and Instagram.
It would be spectacular to observe Liu’s talent again during the next Winter Olympics.