Milan Cortina: Alysa Liu
- Soraya Ladjili
- 9 hours ago
- 2 min read
After retiring from professional figure skating a 2020 World Junior bronze medalist, Junior Grand prix silver medalist, and youngest ever U.S. women’s national champion at age 13, Alysa Liu has come back to skating on her own terms.
She made her unexpected return in 2024, and this year, she won second place to Amber Glenn at the US Championships (skating to Promise by Laufey, which only made me love her performance more). This secured her a spot at Milan Cortina Olympic Winter Games.
Alysa came back to skating for the love of the game, the adrenaline rush, and the joy she feels being on the ice. Sharing her art is a passion that is now unrestricted by any pressure to win, or to adhere to absurdly toxic and strict diets and routines. If watching her skate doesn’t make you want to get on the ice yourself, then you must watch again. Her joy radiates through the screen and makes her quadruple lutz look effortless (By the way, she was the first ever American woman to land a quadruple lutz in competition – at age 14).
Alysa Liu completely took over my TikTok feed during these last Winter Olympics, along with that one snowboarder who posts Olympic Village tiramisu reviews. In the free skate competition, Liu skated to “MacArthur Park Suite” by Donna Summer. I encourage you, if you haven’t, to watch her performance – even the commentators were completely entranced! The performance won her first place. Liu became the first American woman to win individual figure skating gold in 24 years at the Olympics!
She walked away from the Games with not only one, but two medals, also helping the US secure team gold with her short program performance. Liu also skated to "Stateside" by PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson at the Exhibition Gala after her win, another fun and energetic watch.
Liu at the Exhibition Gala:
The reason Alysa is so captivating isn’t just her unique style (from raccoon-dyed hair to a self-pierced smiley), but her true passion for skating. In an interview with Olympics.com, she said “I get to share my art on the world's biggest stage, and so what's not to be happy about?”. That joy, authenticity, and unapologetic way of expressing her true self are what make her so special. Hopefully more athletes can compete with as much love for their sport, and respect for their competitors as Alysa Liu.
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