Figure skating icon Alysa Liu is making waves on the rink at the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics—after retiring from the sport and leaving Colorado for a chance at a normal life in Los Angeles in 2022.
The 20-year-old was considered a certified ice princess during the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, in which she finished seventh overall, which was the highest placement among U.S. women.
However, after her magical performance, Liu shocked fans when she revealed she was trading her ice skates for a normal teenage life with her friends at UCLA.
The star athlete, who hails from Berkeley, CA, moved to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado to focus on honing her skills—an experience she branded incredibly “lonely.”
In 2022, she revealed her retirement in an Instagram post, in which she penned, “I started skating when I was 5 so that’s about 11 years on the ice and it’s been an insane 11 years.”
She noted that her ultimate goal was competing at the Olympics, which she achieved.
“I made the decision for myself a while ago, way before the Olympics. My only goal was to go to the Olympics. I’m only 16. I want to do other stuff,” she said before admitting that her decision was “selfish” and made “purely for myself.”
She later told Cosmopolitan that she wanted to be closer to her friends, recalling the nights she spent alone, wishing she had company.
“There was nothing more I wanted than to just be with my friends and my family, and skating had nothing to do with that at that point,” said Liu, who had been homeschooled up until that point.
She also wanted to experience public school, she noted.
“I would live at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado, in a dorm by myself. I would eat their food. I went to the rink, skated, ate lunch there, skated some more. Went back to the dorm. I didn’t go anywhere. I didn’t see anything. I was just there. And so all that, I was like, ‘Skating is not worth it.’ Like, this is not worth it,” she told the Associated Press.
After two years at UCLA, Liu revealed she was coming out of retirement, confessing that skiing helped her remember her love for the sport.
“I hadn’t felt that adrenaline rush, I guess, since I’d quit skating. It feels so similar to skiing. And so after I skied, I was like, ‘Wait, let me get on the ice and see what it feels like,'” she said.
When she got back on the rink and was able to complete every move perfectly, she decided to make her official comeback to the sport.
She told Cosmopolitan that ice skating “gave me something to be strong for,” adding that she has fallen back in love with every aspect of the sport.
“Now, I love skating dresses and helping with the design process. The sport is kind of an outlet for me. I love dance and music, so it’s everything in one,” she gushed.
“I wanted to pick my own music, help design my own costumes, ‘cause I developed my own taste and my own style. This is my sport, my program. Why wouldn’t I want to be wearing what I want to wear?” she told The Players’ Tribune.
Now, Liu is said to be one of the top contenders in the figure skating field at the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics.
She is skating in the figure skating team event for Team USA, as well as the individual women’s singles short program and free skate.
Now that she is back on the ice, Liu confessed that she couldn’t imagine leaving again.
“So many people ask me if I am going to retire after this year, and I really thought about their question. I cannot imagine not skating in a year. I can’t imagine next year being off the ice,” the athlete told Cosmopolitan.