Lucy Alessi '26 ~ March 2026
Alysa Liu, the ice skating phenomenon from Oakland, CA, has been busy since winning two gold medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina in the women’s single-title, and the short program for team USA. Liu’s wins are the first gold medals for the U.S. women’s figure skating team in 24 years, ending the drought.
Liu, who previously went on a 2 year hiatus from figure skating at 16 after the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, is now planning on using her platform and fame to advocate for mental health. She also appeared on the cover of Teen Vogue. In her article she talked about her life after winning gold, her interests outside of figure skating, and her recent rise to popularity. Liu said she loves anime and hiking, and has two cats named Sesame and Chia. She also appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Liu tells us that “If I didn’t hit rock bottom, I could not have gone up”, when talking about her dropping out of figure skating and then her remarkable return to the sport.
Liu also dropped out of the figure skating world championships, which is set to take place in Prague in March. She was set to partake in the world championships in Prague to see if she could be a back-to-back champion. Now, since she dropped out of the competition, she plans to enjoy life, pause, and rest before competing again.