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Four years ago, Oakland’s Alysa Liu announced her retirement from figure skating with an Instagram post proclaiming she was “finally done with her goals” in the sport.
So much for that.
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Tuesday, Feb. 10
Homeschooled through the California Connections Academy, Liu became the youngest national champion ever when she won the 2019 women’s singles title as a 13-year-old. She nearly missed the 2022 Olympics in Beijing due to a positive Covid-19 test at the U.S. championships but was able to compete and finished eighth in the short program.
When Liu abruptly retired at 16 in April 2022, she wrote on social media, in a post that has since been deleted, “This skating thing has taught me a lot more about life than I anticipated. I’m really glad I skated.”
Nearly two years later, U.S. figure skating issued a press release announcing Liu’s return to the ice. On Thursday, she delivered a performance that had everyone — and everything — eager to say they knew her when.
A day before the event, Oakland’s Marshawn Lynch appeared on NBC and told Liu to “Bring that [gold] back to The Town, man. Town business. Show ’em what you talking about.”
Even before her gold medal, Liu had drawn plenty of attention at the Olympics, as her unique hairstyle and frenulum piercing generated headlines in outlets that don’t traditionally cover sports. Liu said her stripey hairstyle (opens in new tab) was inspired by a desire to “kind of want to be a tree.” She told reporters she gave herself the frenulum piercing, with the help of her sister, who held open her lip.
No matter what Liu does next, there’s one look she’ll always be associated with: a gold medal around her neck.