Alysa Liu
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There’s no way to lose.
Alysa Liu (born 8 August 2005) is an American figure skater. A two-time U.S. national champion and 2025 World champion, she won gold medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics in women's singles and in the team event.
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Quotes
[edit]- “I actually wouldn’t tell my younger self a thing, ’cause she’s gonna figure out herself. I don’t want to change anything.” -this was from an article summarizing her comments in recent interviews about her mindset and journey, where she was asked what advice she would give her younger self.
- https://dailydot.com/alysa-liu-best-quotes
- I’m here to announce that i am retiring from skating. I started skating when i was 5 so that’s about 11 years on the ice and it’s been an insane 11 years. a lot of good and a lot of bad. ... i feel so satisfied with how my skating career has gone. now that i’m finally done with my goals in skating i’m going to be moving on with my life.
- Instagram post on her decision to retire from figure skating competition (9 April 2022), as quoted in "Alysa Liu retires from figure skating competition at age 16", NBC Sports (9 April 2022)
- I was so into skating that I really didn’t do much else. Skating takes up your while life, almost. I don’t know if other people kind of feel the same when they look back at certain parts of their life, but for me, it’s definitely a blur, because it kind of meshes together, you know — going to the rink, going home, competing.
There were many, many times when I didn’t enjoy it.- On why she had quit skating, before eventually deciding to return to it, in "How Alysa Liu rediscovered figure skating and came out of retirement" by Philip Hersh, NBC Sports (11 October 2024)
- The thing is, I love.... what I like to share about myself is like my story and my art — my creative process — and I guess messing up doesn’t take away from that. It’s still something, it’s still a story. A bad story is still a story, and I think that’s beautiful.
There’s no way to lose.- On how she avoids being nervous and skates with such joyfulness, in an interview with NBC News after winning the Olympic Gold medal in the women's skating single competition (19 February 2026); also reported in "Alysa Liu not only won gold — she did it on her terms" by Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News (19 February 2026)
Quotes about Liu
[edit]- I’m so proud of her. The message that this is going to send to young athletes and parents alike that if you consider your mental health and treat it right, great things can happen.
- Amber Glenn, US Olympic team-mate, as quoted in "Alysa Liu not only won gold — she did it on her terms" by Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News (19 February 2026)
- …the Chinese [Communist Party] government was aware of an Instagram post Alysa made about human rights violations against Uyghurs. For a regime sensitive to criticism, especially from high-profile figures, this was enough to put her on a list. Alysa Liu was not just a dissident’s daughter. She was a young American athlete who [had] publicly acknowledged the suffering of a persecuted minority. That combination made her a target.
… It is rare for an Olympic gold medal to intertwine with a federal criminal case. It is even rarer for the athlete to be the daughter of a man who once fled China in a smuggler’s boat. But perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the story is Alysa’s reaction. When asked how she would portray this saga in a possible Hollywood movie, she said she would like to be a “super cool hero,” but the real focus should be on her father. His story, she said, is the one that matters. Alysa Liu’s saga is a reminder that the Chinese government’s campaign against dissidents extends far beyond its borders. It reaches into American cities, into immigrant communities, and even into the lives of children who have never set foot in China. It also reminds us that courage takes many forms. Sometimes it looks like a student leader refusing to betray his classmates in 1989. Sometimes it looks like a man gripping the side of a speeding boat in the dark, fleeing toward freedom. And sometimes it looks like a young woman stepping onto Olympic ice, knowing her family has been watched—and skating anyway.- Massimo Introvigne, "The Winter Olympics Story Beijing Does Not Want You to Read", Bitter Winter (February 24, 2026)
