Alysa Liu solidified her name in the figure skating community with her ravishing appearance at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The skater’s best friend recently revealed what made her return to ice after bidding the sport goodbye in 2022.
Liu made her Olympic debut at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, where she did not earn any medals. In the women’s event, she finished in eighth position in the short program before earning a seventh-place finish in the free skate. Shortly after this, she announced her retirement in April 2022 on her Instagram, saying that she was satisfied with her career, and even though she loved the sport, it was taking up her whole life.
Almost two years later, she returned to the ice in October 2024 and then stunned the audience with her incredible comeback at the 2026 Winter Olympics, where she won two gold medals after her clutch performances. The story behind her sudden comeback was recently shared by her best friend during a conversation with CBS Mornings.
Opening up about how a skiing trip triggered Liu’s wish to return to skating, she said:
“I remember it was like our first time skiing, and we were driving, and she was like, ‘I’m gonna do Black Diamond today.’ And like some people said that as a joke, she was dead serious. I was like, we need to take it slow. We’re not going on a black diamond, we’re double black diamond. Anywhere in this morning, but at the same time, it’s like I knew that she would pick it up, and she did. By the end of the day, she probably could have done that diamonds. I mean, she’s just so athletically gifted in a lot of ways, doing a sport like that again, that’s so fun.”
She added:
“I wasn’t surprised that it reminded her of what she found in skating that she liked. On the ride home from that trip, she just kind of talked it through with us. And she still wasn’t sure at the start, and then she was like, I’ll just try. Going to the rink with you in the morning, and if I can land all my jobs, I’ll come back, and I was like, OK, let’s do it. Yeah, she kind of unsurprisingly was able to pick them all up within the morning,” her friend added.
Liu won her first Olympic gold medal in the team event and clinched her second one in the free skate program. Here, she etched a historic win with 226.79 points overall, becoming the first American in 24 years to win a gold medal in women’s figure skating.
Alysa Liu Opened Up About Raising Mental Health Awareness After Her Olympic Gold Medal Win
Following her notable victories at the 2026 Milan Cortina, Alysa Liu addressed the media, where she weighed in on how she would use the fame and attention she received in Milan. Highlighting mental health, she said she wants to inspire and encourage people with her comeback story and stressed why the 2026 Olympics are different than the 2022 Winter Olympics.
“I hope that, you know, with all this attention, I can at least raise awareness about like mental health and sports and mental health in general. Um, and I think my story is pretty cool, and so I hope that inspires some people as well,” said Alysa Liu.
She added:
“For me, this Olympics means a lot because my friends and family were out there watching. Um, and in Beijing, I didn’t have a crowd. So, the fact that there was a crowd here just hyped me up even more. And I was honored to perform for everyone.”
Alysa Liu recently received a sweet gesture from the UCLA gymnast, Katelyn Rosen, who said she was the skater’s biggest fan.
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