LIU Alysa

To begin this new weekly series, who better than Alysa Liu. This American figure skater, born to a father of Chinese origin, shows the world that sport is above all about love and passion, during the Winter Olympic Games of Milan-Cortina 2026.

The story of Alysa begins on August 8, 2005 in California. She grows up in Richmond and discovers her passion at a young age. At the age of 5, she takes her first steps on the ice, and only 2 years later, the young skater will participate in her first national competition.

Liu performs in ice rinks and impresses despite her young age. Ahead of her predecessors, Alysa begins in the junior category and wins first place in her category in her very first year. In 2018, the young Alysa asserts herself during the Asian Open Trophy in Bangkok. The achievement of a perfect program, in which she will execute a triple Axel perfectly. This performance will earn her the title of the youngest skater in history to successfully land this element cleanly in competition.

It is at the age of 13 that she will make a strong impression by becoming the youngest American skater to become national champion in 2019. It is also that same year that the young girl will perform a quadruple Lutz in competition during her free program, as well as a quadruple jump and a triple Axel in that same program. The following year, she will triumph by becoming the youngest skater to win 2 senior national titles. The year 2020 will mark her first World Junior Championship; despite her age making her ineligible to compete at an international senior level, she was nevertheless nominated.

During the 2021–2022 season, the objective is to be part of the team that will go to the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. The objective is achieved for the young skater who competes under the American colors despite an offer from China. Alysa Liu will place 8th in the short program of these Games, a disappointing place for the young skater.

On April 9, 2022, fans of the American discover on the athlete’s Instagram page that she withdraws and takes her sporting retirement. The young woman states that she is satisfied with her career and her results and that she now wishes to change and evolve in order to be able to devote herself to other activities than skating.

It will be necessary to wait until the 2024–2025 season to see the prodigy of American skating again. Liu is back on the ice following a skiing trip, during which her taste for gliding returned. For Alysa Liu, skating is something that is never forgotten, and this promises great prospects for the future.

At the beginning of 2026, Alysa confides and denounces the pressures of high-level skating that she has endured since her early childhood. In February, she will win 2 gold medals during the Winter Olympic Games of Milan-Cortina, including a gold medal in the individual event, a beautiful reward for the young athlete who, only 20 years old, has decided to be the master of her performances. Indeed, the young woman now trains according to her own conditions and needs. Alysa Liu thus proves to the world that talent, results and performances do not rhyme with pain and abuse but with respect, needs, desires and values, in a sporting environment where in recent years more and more voices have been speaking out about the abuse suffered by certain athletes.

Written by Naëlle Verschoren