Alysa LiuOlympic Gold Medalist · Women's Figure Skating · Milano Cortina 2026

Alysa Liu is an American competitive figure skater, born on August 8, 2005, in Fremont, California. Of Chinese-American heritage, she is a three-time U.S. Champion and the 2026 Olympic gold medalist in women's singles figure skating at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

She first made history in 2019, winning the U.S. Championship at just 13 years old, making her the youngest U.S. Champion in the event's history. She defended the title in 2020, cementing an early reputation as arguably the most talented young female figure skater in the United States in a generation.

After a painful omission from the 2022 Beijing Olympics team, Liu underwent a full athletic and artistic rebuild that ultimately produced the most dominant stretch of her career. Her 2026 gold medal, delivered with a total score of 233.17 points, ended a 20-year American medal drought in the women's singles figure skating event at the Olympic Games.

Skating last in the final group at the Mediolanum Forum in Milan on February 19, 2026, Liu delivered a free skate to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata that will be remembered as one of the great performances in the event's Olympic history.

Her opening triple Axel was textbook. From there, she strung together seven triple jumps and one triple-triple combination without a single fall, downgrade, or wobble. Her free skate score of 156.44 was a personal best by nearly four points. Her program components score was the highest of the night, with multiple judges awarding 9.25 and above.

When her scores confirmed the gold medal, Liu collapsed into the arms of her coaching team. The arena, packed with thousands of American fans who had traveled to Milan, erupted.

"I just told myself: this is what you trained for," Liu said. "There was no noise when I was on that ice. Just the music and me."

Alysa Liu was born on August 8, 2005, in Fremont, California, to a Chinese-American family. She began figure skating as a young child and rapidly progressed through the junior ranks, demonstrating a rare combination of natural athleticism, technical fearlessness, and artistic instinct.

At just 13 years old in 2019, Liu won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, becoming the youngest U.S. Champion in the event's history. She repeated the feat in 2020, one of only a handful of champions to defend the U.S. title in back-to-back years at that age.

Her signature element is the triple Axel, one of figure skating's most demanding jumps and one that only a small number of women in the world can execute reliably in competition. Her consistent and technically clean triple Axel has been a cornerstone of her competitive programs throughout her career.

In one of the more controversial selection decisions in recent U.S. figure skating history, Liu was left off the Team USA roster for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympicsfollowing the U.S. Championships selection event. The decision drew significant public debate, given her record as a two-time national champion and her trajectory as one of the sport's brightest young performers.

What followed was a quiet, disciplined rebuild. Liu overhauled her technical program, deepened her artistic presentation, and returned to competition with a more complete version of herself as a skater. She later described the Beijing omission as the catalyst for the growth that made her an Olympic champion.

"Not making Beijing was the most painful thing that ever happened to me athletically," she said after her gold medal. "And it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I came back a different skater."

Liu's gold medal is not just a personal achievement. It represents a fundamental shift in the global landscape of women's figure skating. The sport's center of gravity had moved decisively to Asia, with Japan, South Korea, and China collecting the last five Olympic gold medals in the women's event. American programs had quietly accepted a reduced role on the podium.

At 20 years old, Liu has multiple Olympic cycles ahead of her. U.S. Figure Skating president Ramsey Baker described her gold as "a transformational moment for the sport in this country" and validation of the federation's investment in elite athlete development programs launched after the 2022 Beijing cycle.

The women's figure skating final at Milano Cortina 2026 drew what NBC Sports estimated to be the largest American television audience of the Games, over 22 million viewers across linear and streaming platforms.

"I want this to be the beginning of something," Liu said. "Not just for me, but for every little girl who puts on skates in America and dreams about this moment."

In the days before competition, Liu received what may be the most unconventional pre-Olympic send-offs in figure skating history. Madonna posted on social media calling Liu "a true artist on ice," while Taylor Swift posted a story wishing her "all the magic" before the short program.

The dual celebrity endorsements ignited the internet. Search interest in Liu spiked by over 800 percent in the week leading up to competition, and her social media following doubled. The moment transformed her from a known commodity in figure skating circles into a genuine mainstream sports celebrity heading into the most-watched event of the Games.