Alysa Liu became the first athlete to win gold in women’s singles for the United States at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, marking the first such victory for the country in this discipline after 24 years. Liu, who won the world championship title in 2025, began her career at an early age, retired from the sport at 16, and then returned to the ice two years later under her own conditions, achieving international success. She is known for her “alternative” style and technical skills that diverge from traditional figure skating aesthetics.

Born on August 8, 2005, in Clovis, California, Liu is the eldest of five siblings and was born through surrogacy and an anonymous egg donor. Her father, Arthur Liu, is a lawyer who emigrated to the United States as a political refugee from China after participating in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Raised in the Oakland area, the athlete completed her education at home due to the demands of her intensive training schedule and frequent travel.

She began figure skating at age five under her father’s guidance. In 2019, at age 13, she broke Tara Lipinski’s record as the youngest U.S. national champion and retained the title the following year. At just 12 years old, she became the youngest female skater to land a triple axel in international competition. Her father, Arthur Liu, invested between half a million and one million dollars in her development and closely monitored her training. Coaches who failed to meet his standards were dismissed during this period.

Following the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, at age 16, she announced her retirement from the sport. In statements made at the time, she said she had lost her connection to figure skating, felt isolated, and desired a normal life. To explore life beyond sports, she closed her social media accounts, enrolled at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), and undertook a trek to the base camp of Mount Everest in Nepal.

^{Alysa Liu performing at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics. (AA)}

After a two-year break, she returned to competition in 2024, deciding to compete on her own terms. In this new phase, she began working with coaches Phillip DiGuglielmo and choreographer Massimo Scali, assuming full artistic control over her music selections, costume designs, and routines. She won the gold medal at the 2025 World Championships in Boston. At the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, she finished third in the short program and then claimed the championship with a performance set to Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park Suite,” achieving a career-high score of 226.79 points. She also won a gold medal in the team event at the same Olympics.