2026 Olympics: Skating with joy, Alysa Liu wins a gold medal

Figure skater Aysa Liu loves the audience applause after her gold medal performance.

If you weren’t already a member of the Alysa Liu fan club, her performance Thursday night in Milan probably fixed that. 

The 20-year-old from the Bay Area didn’t just win an Olympic gold medal; she reclaimed the joy of a sport that she once walked away from, and she did it with a "megawatt smile" that lit up the entire Milano Ice Skating Arena at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Liu’s victory is more than just a personal win — it’s a historic moment for Team USA. She is the first American woman to stand atop the individual Olympic podium since Sarah Hughes in 2002. For those of us keeping track, that’s 24 years of waiting, finally ended by a skater who prioritizes fun as much as her footwork.

Coming into the free skate in third place, Liu was the picture of "calm, cool, and collected." Dressed in a shimmering gold outfit that seemed to predict the final result, she delivered a masterclass to Donna Summer’s disco classic "MacArthur Park."

Her priorities

From her opening triple flip to her closing combinations, Liu was virtually perfect. She racked up a career-best 150.20 in the free skate for a total of 226.79, enough to edge out Japan’s powerhouse skaters Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai.

After her final pose, Liu didn’t collapse in exhaustion. Instead, she gave a casual flip of her ponytail and a shrug, as if to say, "Yeah, that's done. Time to go hit a karaoke bar."

Fans caught a real moment of triumph on camera as she stepped off the ice, she looked straight into the camera and exclaimed, "That’s what I’m f***ing talking about!" [Note: Viral social media moment]. It was the kind of unfiltered joy we love to see from an athlete who has truly found her voice.

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Skating is something she enjoys, but it is not the most important thing about her life. After her performance she was interviewed by NBC and she barely talked about her her skating:

"Going into this free skate, I have this new dress I was very excited to share on the big stage, and I'm very happy with how I skated.

"I had dinner with (my family) last night and that was unbelievable. But another unbelievable feeling was just when I was skating. When I was skating, hearing the cheers, I felt so connected with this audience. I want to be out there again.

"All I want in my life is human connection and, damn, now I am connected with a hell of a ton of people (laughs)."

Life is more than the medals

For Liu, this journey back to the ice after her brief retirement in 2022 wasn't about the hardware. As she told reporters while her gold medal hung around her neck: "I don't need this... what I needed was the stage."

She leaves Milan with two gold medals—one from the team event and this historic individual title—and a reminder to all of us that the best performances happen when you’re truly having fun.

As she told reporters after winning gold, "I choose to be here ... I love that I was able to come back and choose my own destiny."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. 

Ice skater Alyssa Liu's trimphant return to the rink garners a gold medal

Alysa Liu couldn't believe her own performance at the World's Skating Championship.

At the ripe, old age of 19, ice skater Alysa Liu came out of retirement. On Friday, she won the gold medal at the 2025 ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

"This means so much to me after everything that I've been through," Liu said at the press conference after her championship performance Friday in Boston. "My last skating experience, my time away... and (now) this time around. I'm so happy... I'm mostly glad that I could put out two of my best performances."

After two years away from the sport, Liu became the first US woman to win a world title in 19 years.

After finished seventh at the 2022 Winter Olympics in in Beijing, the best finish of the the three US women, followed by a bronze at World's, the then-16-year old surprised everyon by announcing she decided to hang up her skates.

Up until then, she was on the brightest stars in the US. She expected to compete for the gold medal after beicoming the yuongest woman to win the US championship title when she was 13. A year later, she was the first American to do the quadruple jump.

When she made her retirement announcement, Liu, who had been skating since age 5 and trained in Oakland, Calif., said that she had reached all of her skating goals and was ready to move with her life.

Before enrolling at UCLA as a freshman, a ski tirp to Lake Tahoe sparked the realization that she loved being an athlete. From there, a few calls to former coaches and she began her journey to get back into competition shape.

FYI: US ice dance team capture gold medal

“Moments like these make me realize 16-year-old me was so right,” she said. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t decide to retire for a little bit. So I’m glad that I listened to myself.”

With her victory at Worlds, Liu joins the elite company of American women who have won the world title, including Tenley Albright, Carol Heiss, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Linda Fratianne, Elaine Zayak, Rosalynn Sumners, Jill Trenary, Kristi Yamaguchi, Michelle Kwan, Tara Lipinski and Kimmie Meissner.

With the gold medal in her pocket, Liu has set herself up for the Olympics that will be held in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy in 2026.

Her performance in the long skate was nearly flawless using seven triple jumps to cement her victory. After her skate, she couldn't believe her accomplishment, ecclaiming, "What the hell!" repeatedly all the way back to her coaches.

“That was the best performance I’ve laid down all season, even my practice programs have not been that good,” she treporters after her winning performance. “I really thought if I did clean skates I’d be hopefully top 10, definitely not first. This moment is so unreal, that’s the only word I can use to describe it. I still have to process it to be honest.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Ice skating: Nathan Chen stumbles, Vincent Zhou rises wins Grand Prix title

USA SKATE

For the first time, Nathan Chen beat fellow American Nathan Chen in Las Vegas over the weekend.

An Asian American came in first in the men's free skate at Skate America on Saturday at Las Vegas' Orleans Areina, but it wasn't perennial champion Nathan Chen.

A spectacular Vincent Zhou easily held off Chen’s challenge, winning his first Grand Prix title and snapping Chen’s streak of 14 consecutive titles over the span of three-plus seasons.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” Zhou said. “I didn’t really expect this result. What I did expect of myself was to be as well prepared and well trained as I possibly could be, and focusing on that every day at home led to the seemingly impossible becom(ing) possible.”

When added to Friday’s short program scores, Zhou won gold with 295.56 points, and Japan’s Shoma Uno took silver with 270.68 points. Despite placing second in the free skate, Chen — who finished fourth in the short program — settled for bronze with 269.37 points.

It is the first time Zhou has defeated Chen, who is a year older, in senior competition. The win comes on the eve of Zhou’s birthday — the Palo Alto, California, native turned 21 on Sunday (Oct. 24).

Zhou credited getting an early start this season — Skate America is his fourth competition — as well as superior preparation and good health, for his win.

“My training this year has been by far the most consistent and productive training I have ever had,” he said. “Being well prepared, training to perform under whatever circumstances, is really paying off. ... It’s just all about managing the ups and downs, not letting anything get into my head, working hard, keeping the goals in mind.”

For his part, Chen shrugged off the end of his winning streak, which had stretched back to the 2018 World Figure Skating Championships.  

“It is not devastating,” he said. “It was inevitably going to end (at) some point in time. ... I am really proud of the guys up here. If anyone was going to break it, I’m glad it was (Vincent).”

The two Team USA athletes both put on powerful technical displays in their free skates. Zhou attempted, and landed, five quadruple jumps, while Chen tried six quads, landing four and doubling out of the other two.

“Trying and accomplish(ing) are very different things, right?” Chen said. “I ended up doing four. ... The more you put out, the more risky it is. Is it worth it, I don't know. It depends on the day, I guess.”

Zhou’s free skate, set to the “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” soundtrack, is far more seasoned, choreographically layered and compelling than Chen’s program to Mozart selections. Zhou first performed it during the 2018-19 season, winning the world bronze medal.

“I think it’s a very strong all-around program, it fits my character — well, it’s exciting,” he said. “I’m able to move to it well, it has a strong ending.”

The judges agreed: they awarded Zhou 198.13 points for his free skate, while Chen earned 186.48 points. 

Zhou had the last word at the press conference, tipping his hat to his longtime rival.

“Obviously, I don’t expect to win everything, I’m not Nathan Chen,” he said. “It’s an honor to compete in such a deep men’s field and an honor to win the gold medal. ... We are going to take this for what it is and ride the momentum and keep moving forward.”

In the ice dancing competition, Asian American Madison Chock and her partner Evan Bates, came in second to with 208.23. The pair was edged by their training mates Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue who earned 209.54 points.

-- USA SKATE