After winning the first Olympic women’s figure skating individual gold medal in 24 years, hometown hero Alysa Liu said “I was glad that I could bring Oakland to Milan.” On March 12, Oakland will return the favor and bring the darling of the Milano Cortina games back to where it all began.
It’s been a whirlwind since the Olympics for the superstar skater, including a visit to the Today show on Monday when she snapped a selfie with Daniel Radcliffe, and a surprise appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday, when she gifted the host with a wig of her iconic hairstyle.
Back home in Oakland, Liu’s father, Arthur Liu, was a guest of honor at the Lunar New Year parade last Saturday, and a mural has already been erected of Liu’s Olympic triumph in the Temescal neighborhood.
The celebration continues. Today, Mayor Barbara Lee announced the details of a special Celebration Rally with Alysa Liu that will take place on Thursday, March 12 at 12pm at Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland. This is a free event, but space is limited, so reserve your spot by registering at Visit Oakland’s website.
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Esther Kaplan was most recently the investigations editor at Business Insider. Before that, she was executive editor at Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, where she oversaw a reporting team that led investigations for a national podcast, and editor-in-chief at the New York City nonprofit Type Investigations. She launched the Ida B. Wells Fellowship, a program dedicated to diversifying the field of investigative reporting.