Welcome to Cosmo Sports, our series where we get unprecedented, all-day access to some of the most influential names in collegiate and professional athletics. We capture a full day in their lives to give you a deeper sense of who they are, not just what they do.
Every four years when the Winter Olympics takes over our global consciousness, the usually-niche sport of figure skating suddenly becomes the event to watch. Millions of people around the world tune in to cheer for their home countries and the skaters representing them, and every time, there’s “one to watch.” This year, that’s Alysa Liu.
The 20-year-old is no stranger to having all eyes on her though. Back in 2019, Alysa first made a name for herself when she won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at just 13, becoming its youngest winner ever. In 2020, she earned the title again. Two years after that, she made her Olympic debut at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, one without the usual in-person fanfare due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At that Games, she came in a surprising sixth place.
Shortly after, Alysa shocked the world when she decided to officially retire from ice skating. She was only 16 at the time, and the typical retirement age for the sport is around mid-20s. But now, as the world looks toward the 2026 Winter Games in Milano Cortina, which is happening February 6 to 22, they’re also catching up to the fact that Alysa isn’t just back—she’s better than ever.
Sure, some things have changed since we last saw her compete nearly four years ago, but it’s not the growth spurt (Alysa was only 4'7" when she first became an international star) or the fact that she’s now in college and an adult. And it’s not the hair dye or the new piercing that she’s sporting either. No, it’s the pure joy that she shows off on the ice that proves that this time, everything is different.
“I really do like to skate, so I can’t see myself stopping anytime soon, which is so crazy to say because I didn’t think this way for so long,” Alysa tells me over Zoom in September, right before the competition season started. “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.”
Next up? The U.S. Figure Skating Championships on January 7 to 9, the final competition where, in the moments after the medals and flowers are handed out, skaters find out whether or not they will make the Olympic team that will compete in Milan. Thanks to her high performances at international competitions this year, it is certain that Alysa will earn a spot.
Despite the obvious pressures that come with having a whole country cheering you on and the possibility of an Olympic gold medal at the edge of your fingertips, Alysa is assured about one thing: She’s now doing this for herself and truly having fun with every moment of the process. And that’s kind of the whole point, isn’t it? Still, it feels revolutionary to have someone at the top of their game simply prioritizing their joy in their sport. Of course medals and wins and accolades are nice, but being rooted in the love of the game makes all of those things even more meaningful.
Alysa is helping lead a new generation of skaters (and skating enthusiasts, like myself) into an era that prioritizes mental and physical health, friendship, happiness, creativity, and passion before medals. She's proving that this focus shift not only helps her win—and actually enjoy the process to that goal—but beyond that, it’s also turning curious spectators into true fans who keep up with the sport long after the Olympics lights have gone down.
In our second chat after her recent gold medal win at the 2025 Grand Prix Final in December, Alysa couldn’t be more excited to thrive in all of it. And this time, she’s doing it with her friends and family at her side and the real Alysa Liu on the ice.
Congrats on your gold medal at the Grand Prix Final! The crowd absolutely loved seeing you. It seemed like you were having a lot of fun, too.
That’s the whole reason why I perform—so that I can share my art and, hopefully, it can reach other people. I want people to feel how I feel and the best way I can do that and express myself is through making dresses, doing the choreography with coach Massimo Scali, picking the music, and interacting with the crowd. I’m just trying to share the love.
You originally retired after the 2022 Olympic Games. What drove you to that decision?
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.
What brought you back?
I went through a whole year of school, and during winter break, I went skiing and I realized school was hard, but it was not challenging enough for me. I got into other things, like fashion, but I never went to the gym. Skating gave me something to be strong for. I love having willpower. I used to never care about programs, what you skated to, your dresses, stuff like that. Now, I love skating dresses and helping with the design process. This sport is kind of an outlet for me. I love dance and music, so it’s everything in one.
You were just 16 when you retired. How has becoming an adult helped shape your outlook on the sport?
Skating is a sport, but first and foremost, it’s an art form. And in order to produce the best art and have it connect with fans, you have to know yourself. I express myself in other ways, but this is one of the more public ways fans really connect to. I had almost no autonomy when I was a kid. But I was a kid, so it makes sense. I didn’t know what I wanted. It was a little bit of an irregular experience, but it was an experience that I really learned from, and I gained so much insight. I’m really glad that I’ve been through it all.
You recently had a lot of program changes. While it feels like most skaters would be panicking, you’re just thriving in it.
My favorite thing about skating is creating a new program. That’s how my brain works. So the fact that I get to do it for so much longer in the year is just a blessing to me, because it means that I can just create more. Nothing is set, so there’s more freedom.
I think being an athlete is one of the coolest things in the world. I’m so grateful to be part of it and I’m so happy that figure skating is also an art form. It’s very rare for sports to have an artistic side and I feel really lucky that I can do both of my hobbies in one. I really romanticize my life now being an athlete.
There’s been this big debate over whether there’s too much emphasis on jumps versus the artistic side of skating.
These scores and placements, they don’t affect your art. Your art is still your art. There’s an ideal version of figure skating that I have in my head that might not ever happen, but in my dream world, everyone’s art is appreciated and we don’t really get scored. But because competitions are, unfortunately, the biggest stages, and that’s how our art gets seen and shared, we all really do have to compete. We’re really just individual artists, doing it together and competing, which is weird. But I like to think of it as we have our work, we share it, and whoever connects with it connects with it.
How different do you feel like this Olympic experience will be?
This Olympics is going to be very different than the last, for sure, in many different ways. Not just age—I was 16 last time—and I didn’t really love skating that much. I didn’t like my programs. I was just not in the process. This time, I’m really passionate about it and I’m getting to know a lot of the skaters a lot more than before. A lot of them are new. When I quit, a lot of people quit as well. So coming back, it’s like a whole new team. I love everyone so much. And I mean, we got some good skaters, so it’s fun to watch that as well.
You recently made a TikTok with fellow Team USA Olympic hopefuls Amber Glenn and Ilia Mannlin. It must be so fun to get to do this with an incredible team and have that camaraderie with you.
I have known Amber since I was 11 years old. And, okay, I forgot to tell her this, but one of the memories I have from when I was younger with Amber is her asking me—because I had really long hair back then and my hair is a little bit wavy, so it curls up at the end—if I curl my hair to get it that way. And I was like, “Oh no, I don’t.”
I was little. I didn’t think too much of my hair like that. But she was like, “Whoa. It’s really beautiful like that. You have that naturally.” And literally, ever since that day, I have loved that my hair has done that, and it’s literally all because of her. It’s not like I hated it before. I just didn’t pay much attention to it. But I need to tell her this. It’s crazy that it’s stuck with me for this long. I really don’t have many memories of when I was younger, but I do have that one.
How do you balance friendships with competition?
I’m a very social person. I love making friends. Last time, I was training way too much, and I didn’t really spend too much time with my fellow Team USA members. Connections with people—that’s the most important thing in life. It overrides everything. At the end of the day, skating isn’t as important as people. I can very easily distinguish between competitor and friend, because no one is a competitor in my mind. It’s all fake. The competition, these results, these scores. It’s just the system that we made because we, as humans, are bored and we want to play or something. But…connection, that’s real, and most people realize it too late.
Who are some of your closest friends in skating?
I’m really lucky that I have great friends. Young You is definitely my closest friend in skating still to this day. If I were to compete against her today, it wouldn’t matter. I care more about her than I do the competition. It’s such a good feeling to cheer someone on because their success really feels like your success. Like when she did that clean skate at the 2022 Olympics, it was such an amazing feeling. I was already happy for myself and how I did, but it just made the experience 10 million times better because she did exactly what she wanted to do.
Seeing the people you care about do well in anything is such an unmatched feeling.
I love happy-crying for people. It’s so beautiful. I think that’s also why I love skating, because everyone’s kind of trauma-bonded. Everyone experiences these horrible lows, so the highs feel so much better. And everyone really gets it. That’s just what sports does. That’s why people watch it.
You have such a cool personal style that is an interesting dichotomy between you on the ice vs. off the ice. While skating, you play up the femme, but off the ice, it feels like you lean more into your masc side.
I actually really appreciate that. I love masculine style so much. I feel really comfortable in it. Off the ice, I don’t dress as feminine. To me, that is skating. I’ll wear skirts, too, but I definitely love a good masculine street style. When I am at public events and I’m wearing my usual style, people will say, “Oh, I thought you were, like, a snowboarder.” I take it as a compliment. I like throwing people off.
Then there’s your hair and your frenulum piercing, too!
My hair has so much meaning. I started doing halos on my hair two years ago. I do one for every year because I like to think of myself as a tree. You know how they have a new ring? It counts their age! I made a deal with my coaches: No one tells me what I’m gonna wear. No one tells me how my hair is gonna be. No one’s gonna try to change me. I’m going to pick my own programs and skate the sessions I want to skate. Y’all are my coaches. You guys are going to help me and lead me in training, but I’m structuring it the way I want to. They mentioned some judges and higher-ups might be concerned. I said if they tell me to dye my hair back, I will quit. If they don’t like it and they want to give me less scores or treat me differently, that’s on them. If I change my hair, it’s gonna be because I wanted to.
I love that mentality so much. Transitioning a bit, we have to know: How is it dating while handling all this?
Oh my god, this is, like, the first time I’ve talked about this. That’s a whole other thing that I’m not feeling right now. I have so much love in my life already, and I have so many amazing people, I just haven’t felt the need to look for more or look elsewhere. I really love myself. And my standards are quite high, too. But also, my schedule, especially since starting to skate again, is pretty hectic. If I were to date someone, we’d each have to make tons of sacrifices. It’s just not worth it at this point to build something. I think when it comes, it will. I love being single, I really do. I do see myself being single for a long time. Especially right now, I choose friendships over relationships any day.
Time for some Cosmo Sports rapid-fire questions! What’s your go-to comfort watch?
I don't watch too much TV, but show-wise, I love Cyberpunk. I could rewatch that, like, 10 times. Also, My Little Pony, my childhood watch, and Winx Club. They’re all very familiar, so I love watching those. You can just put it on in the background and do something.
What’s your secret to beating jet lag?
Oh my lord. When I went to Japan, the time difference was so big, I just pulled an all-nighter. But on the way back, I can’t beat jet lag. I just let sleep take me. After the NHK Trophy last year, I slept for 18 hours straight.
Who’s the most famous person on your contact list?
Most famous person, like Instagram followers? Probably Laufey.
Who’s the one person you call when something goes wrong?
My best friend, Juju. I call them immediately. I call them to talk about anything and everything.
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
Oh my gosh, honestly, any old Justin Bieber. Play that in my car, I will be singing along.
No Bieber program yet?
You know what? I’m not gonna really give a strong opinion on that, because I’ve never thought about it. I’ll think about that!
So, basically, to quote the great JB, “Never say never“?
Yes, exactly!
