At the 2026 Milano Olympics, Alysa Liu, an Oakland raised athlete, became the first woman from the Bay Area to win an individual gold medal in figure skating. Only four other skaters from the Bay Area have won individual golds in the history of the Olympics, making her accomplishment all the more notable. A year prior to her Olympic win, Liu also became the first U.S. woman to win a world title at the World Championships since 2006.
The athlete’s relationship with skating began at the age of five, and as she quickly progressed, she began competing at various levels, including nationals. Her several accomplishments have included becoming the youngest girl to win an intermediate gold at the 2016 U.S. championships, competing and perfecting various new jump combinations, and winning gold at the Asian Open Trophy in 2018.
At sixteen, Liu publicly retired from skating, feeling satisfied with her accomplishments. In many Olympic interviews, she reflected on feeling that pressure had taken the joy out of skating, and that she felt a lack of control over her career and life. Two years later, she made a decision that would change the world’s perception of figure skating. Liu returned to the ice at age twenty with one condition for her coaches- that she would maintain complete autonomy over her training. With her newfound freedom, Liu began skating with a resolve that would carry her to the 2026 Olympics.
While competing for Team USA at the Milano 2026 Winter Olympics, Liu won two gold medals, in both the team event and in women’s singles. Her individual skate to “MacArthur Park” emanated confidence, almost perfectly executing every technical element in her piece. Perhaps even more notably than her technique, Liu skated with an obvious joy and charisma that could be felt by audiences across the world, earning her an overall score of 226.79 and securing the athlete’s legendary gold medal.
Liu’s journey from teenage retirement to an Olympic gold medal received an overwhelmingly positive response from the public, and she quickly became a key figure in the athletic community and beyond. Her success left a significant legacy, challenging key beliefs held by the figure skating community and demonstrating the importance of joy in high level athletics.
