ALYSA LIU DIDN’T GO far after receiving her scores and stepping off the «Kiss and cry» podium.
She had just taken over first place at the U.S. national championships in January. «Damn, that’s good, right?» she remarked to her coaches, showing off her multicolored, tree ring-inspired hair and shiny frenulum piercing as she smiled on the big screen to the fans. There was just one more competitor to go. An arena official made sure Liu would have a clear path to get backstage and away from the cameras but she stopped after just a few feet.
Instead of continuing to walk through the black curtain and out of the watchful eyes of fans and reporters, Liu posted up directly in front of the media row next to the ice. For the next four minutes, Liu stood, clapped and cheered loudly as Amber Glenn thrilled the crowd. By the end of the program, Liu had recruited Isabeau Levito, who was currently in second place, to join her and the two roared in ovation as Glenn skated off the ice.
following the disqualification of Kamila Valieva) and was the highest-finishing American woman in the event. Liu told reporters how excited she was to have completed «two clean programs» and shared how much fun the experience was. Just over a month later, she finished in third place at the 2022 world championships.
A few weeks later, she retired with no warning or fanfare. She was 16.
«Heyyyyy so I’m here to announce that I am retiring from skating,» Liu wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post. «I started skating when I was 5 so that’s about 11 years on the ice and it’s been an insane 11 years. A lot of good and a lot of bad but (you know) that’s just how it is. I’ve made so many friends, and so so sooo many good memories that I’ll have for the rest of my life.»
She went on to say she would be spending her free time with her friends and family and concluded the post with a simple sendoff. «I’m really glad I skated.»
told NBC Sports. «She had a reason to counter every one of my points. I said, ‘Other people have tried this, and it didn’t work.’ She said, ‘But they’re all older than me.’ I said, ‘OK, but it’s really hard to get back to worlds,’ and she said, ‘No, I can do it.'»
Eventually, DiGuglielmo and Scali relented and officially were on board. Liu, still just 18, continued to make it known that she would be the final decision-maker when it came to her career. If she needed to take a day off, she would. She could eat what she wanted when she wanted. She would have a say in her choreography, music and costumes. She was in charge.
«I’m so intentional now,» Liu said. «I’m so grounded. Everything I do has a reason for why I do it.»
PREVIOUS NATIONAL CHAMPIONS Gracie Gold and Rachael Flatt had tried in recent years to stage comebacks after hiatuses from the sport but were unable to rediscover their former level. Michelle Kwan, the nine-time U.S. champion and two-time Olympic medalist and arguably one of the best to ever skate, saw her comeback derailed because of injuries in 2006. Sasha Cohen, the last American woman to bring home an Olympic medal in 2006, attempted to return ahead of the 2010 Games following a four-year break from competition, but a fourth-place finish at national championships ended that dream and she retired soon after.
«It’s not that people haven’t tried before, it’s that there is something to be said about mechanically how specific skating is,» Wagner explained to ESPN. «There are these tiny, fine-tuned muscles that can get out of shape really quickly and you kind of lose feeling of the jumps really quickly. When you take time away, there’s no way to train those muscles unless you’re actively jumping, spinning, doing run-throughs. Coming back usually doesn’t end well.»
Liu was not deterred by any of it. She joyfully announced she was back in an Instagram post on March 1, 2024 — less than two months since her first time back in the rink. At the end of a video containing training footage, there was a simple message: «This 2024-2025 season, back on the ice.»
Seven inches taller than when she first took home the senior national crown, and with a reinvigorated attitude, Liu officially returned to competition at the 2024 CS Budapest Trophy in October. It wasn’t perfect — she underrotated her triple toe loop in the free skate and struggled on other jumps — but she still managed to win the title. Three months later, she stunned the crowd by finishing first in the short program at the U.S. championships. She finished the competition in second place, behind Glenn, after the free skate.
Liu decided the time was right to upgrade the look. She found a local colorist who bleached and toned the rings. The new do instantly drew attention ahead of her free skate. She later explained to reporters she wanted something different and to «go lighter.»
As atypical as it might have been to do mid-competition, it seemed fitting for Liu. In addition to the hair change, she was already debuting a new program — something almost unheard of at a competition of that magnitude — set to Lady Gaga and complete with an instantly viral dress based on Gaga’s outfit at the 2009 Video Music Awards. In typical Liu fashion, she later announced she would not be competing that free skate at the Olympics, and would instead revert to the «MacArthur Park» program.
In a sport steeped in tradition, rigid rules and expectations, Liu defies all of it. Sure, there’s her hair and her piercings, and her off-ice wardrobe and vocabulary more resemble a skateboarder than a figure skater, but it’s her demeanor and attitude that stand out most to those around the sport.
While competing, she appears relaxed — no matter the stakes — and makes the near impossible look easy. The smile, the same one seen in her earliest online videos, remains on her face throughout, although this time, it feels genuine.
«She’s amazing. She doesn’t feel pressure,» Brian Boitano, the 1988 Olympic gold medalist, said on an episode of the «Milan Magic» podcast. «She’s unusual. She approaches the competition with this ‘joie de vivre,’ like she’s performing in her backyard on a frozen pool.»
Tara Lipinski, the 1998 Olympic gold medalist and current NBC commentator on the «A Touch More» podcast, added that Liu seems almost immune to what so often has caused others to struggle.
«I don’t know what secret she has, but she is, it’s almost like she’s skating in this little bubble where she doesn’t feel the pressure,» Lipinski said. «She tells us, ‘I don’t feel it.’ She has what every athlete is searching for, the secret of how to mentally be that tough. I always joke because I’m like, all the skaters should be calling her and being like, you need to be my sports psychologist. What are you doing that you’re able to deliver under pressure this seamlessly?»
Alysa Liu is in her element in her short program on the Olympic ice. 😍 pic.twitter.com/prbAVw1OlQ
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 6, 2026
It’s not just that she doesn’t let the weight of the moment or the expectations get to her. After stumbling on the landing of her triple lutz during her free skate at the Cup of China event in October, Liu was forced to improvise late in the program. It was something that would have tripped up many others, but Liu’s eyes lit up when asked about it soon after, and she grinned when talking about it.
«I have ADHD and I love situations that I’m not expecting,» Liu said. «It gives me a dopamine rush. With little mistakes, I love working through it. I have to think. And although it’s not ideal to make those mistakes in competition, it was made and my brain still was releasing those chemicals and I had to think, ‘What next? I have to add a combo here and here.’ It was a little bit of fun and a nice little challenge.»
Liu finished in second place, behind Glenn. But there was no animosity. Instead, they jumped in on the «Beez in the Trap» trend on TikTok — with Glenn taking on the «What’s Up?» portion and Liu channeling her inner Nicki Minaj, circa 2012 — and praised each other in the press.
Their friendship, as well as with Levito, was on full display in St. Louis as they cheered one another on and playfully joked around with one another during news conferences that were equal parts chaotic and sincere.
The scene was a far cry from what many expect in the sport from the superstar women. While in-country rivalries, from Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding to Lipinski and Kwan to Wagner and Gold, have defined the perceptions of the sport for decades, multiple reporters publicly remarked on the shift. Wagner herself couldn’t help but feel encouraged by what she was seeing.
«I just think they’re demonstrating that sport and the real world can exist on separate planes,» Wagner said. «And that’s really refreshing to me as an athlete who came up where I was in an intense rivalry with Gracie Gold. And she and I are like oil and water and we were never going to be friends and we were always going to be competition but we were also never presented with any other option or modeled any other option. … Here you have these three women being so openly themselves and also embracing each other, celebrating what makes them so successful on the ice. It is the healthiest I’ve seen this sport.»
Having already won gold in the team event, Liu has the chance to leave Milan with two Olympic medals. But no matter what happens this week, she has already left a lasting legacy in the sport. From childhood phenom to comeback kid and world champion, Liu has done more at 20 than most will in a lifetime. And she has done it unapologetically her way, perhaps paving the way for the next generation of skaters to embrace a more unorthodox path, filled with smiles, friendship and authenticity.
Another medal would make for a great accessory — and gold does match her new hair color well — but Liu’s primary concern in Milan isn’t standing on top of the podium, or results at all for that matter.
«It’s the Olympics. I kind of want to use it as a stage to show my programs, to show people who I am,» Liu said. «I just want to show my art.»
