From the Bay to the World: Alysa Liu takes Home Gold in Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Written By: Brandon Pulmano
When Alysa Liu stepped into the mixed zone shortly after midnight in Milan with an Olympic gold medal around her neck, the sequins on her dress catching the glare of television lights, the moment should have felt overwhelming. The 20 year old phenom from West Oakland had just delivered the performance of her life at the 2026 Winter Olympics. She landed seven clean triple jumps to surge past two Japanese contenders and become the first American woman to win Olympic figure skating gold in 24 years. Yet Liu didn’t talk about history or the drought she had just ended. Alyssa Liu talked about joy. For Liu, the victory wasn’t just about the podium, it was about rediscovering the love for skating that once disappeared completely.
Her journey to that moment was anything but conventional. At the 2022 Winter Olympics she finished sixth in her Olympic debut, but months later she walked away from the sport entirely, burned out after years of being labeled a prodigy including winning the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at just 13 years old. Liu later admitted she had grown to hate the sport, saying she didn’t care about competitions, scores, or even skating itself and simply wanted distance from the expectations that had surrounded her since childhood. Always under immense pressure and scrutiny it became too much for her.
So she stepped away and built a life outside the rink, enrolling at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to study psychology, traveling with friends, and even hiking in the Himalayas. The break changed everything it was exactly what she needed. Away from the pressure and constant competition cycle, Liu slowly rediscovered why she started skating in the first place, and when she returned to the ice it was no longer about proving anything to anyone else. She skated for herself, and that shift showed in Milan where every jump and every glide carried a sense of freedom rather than obligation.
That mindset also reflects where Liu comes from.
Raised in Oakland, she embodies the Bay Area’s deeply rooted culture of individuality and authenticity the same cultural energy that produced icons like Mac Dre, whose legacy helped define the region’s independent, do it your own way mentality.
Liu’s Olympic run carried that same spirit fearless, creative, and unconcerned with outside expectations. A few feet away in the mixed zone stood Kaori Sakamoto. The silver medalist and three time world champion, wiping away tears after narrowly missing the top of the podium following a couple of small mistakes in her free skate a reminder of how brutally unforgiving figure skating can be. Sometimes third place feels like victory, and other times second place can feel like nothing at all. Liu’s story unfolded differently.
Her gold medal wasn’t just the end of a 24 year drought for American women’s figure skating it was proof that stepping away doesn’t mean the story is over. Sometimes leaving is the only way to come back stronger. By the time Liu stepped away from the mixed zone that night, her medal still catching the glare of the lights, she didn’t look like someone who had just conquered the Olympics.
She looked like someone who had rediscovered the purest part of the sport the joy of skating freely, on her own terms. Watching Alysa Liu perform on one of the world’s biggest stages was a reminder that when you truly enjoy what you do, you unlock another level of performance. Skating freely and without the weight of expectation, Liu showed that passion and joy can elevate an athlete just as much as talent, turning the pressure of the moment into something powerful. From the Bay to the world, Alysa Liu reminded everyone that the most powerful performances don’t come from pressure they come from freedom.
