{"id":217487,"date":"2026-03-13T03:13:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T03:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/217487\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T03:13:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T03:13:22","slug":"alysa-liu-rally-in-oakland-celebrates-olympic-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/217487\/","title":{"rendered":"Alysa Liu rally in Oakland celebrates Olympic gold"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arriving in her hometown like the U.S. Olympic hero she is, Alysa Liu on Thursday made the post-victory swirl sound both glamourous and somewhat normal.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s been one surprise for the 20-year-old since winning gold in the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in February, it\u2019s how famous she\u2019s become \u2014 and how fast.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been crazy how much visibility I have right now,\u201d she said. \u201cWould never have expected that, especially from a figure skater, you know, we don\u2019t really blow up like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her coping mechanism is decidedly low\u2011tech.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really just staying offline,\u201d she said. \u201cNot interested on things I see about me. Clearing my feed. So yeah, my feed is not of me, so I feel normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Alysa Alysa Liu speaks to the media during a news conference celebrating her Olympic success at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland on Thursday. Thousands gathered to honor Liu after her gold medal in women\u2019s figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics. PAUL KITAGAKI JR. pkitagaki@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

She hasn\u2019t even been home a full day, she noted, but life in Oakland already feels different.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I\u2019m out, someone recognizes me,\u201d she said. \u201cSo my daily routine is a little bit different, but most people have been really respectful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still sporting her now-famous, black-and-blonde striped hairstyle, she joked that disguises don\u2019t work particularly well anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been trying to cover my hair, but people know me by my face too, and that\u2019s weird,\u201d she laughed. \u201cI\u2019m like, you\u2019re only supposed to know me by my hair.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Olympic Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu dances and take the stage with TurfInc Dancers during a rally celebrating her at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland on Thursday. Thousands came out to honor Liu for her success at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. PAUL KITAGAKI JR. pkitagaki@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Liu sat down with local and national media at City Hall for a news conference and then went outside the hall to greet thousands of wildly enthusiastic fans for a packed, sun\u2011splashed rally in downtown Oakland.<\/p>\n

Liu won the gold medal in the Women\u2019s Singles figure skating event, as well as taking gold in the team event. Originally from Oakland, she became the first American woman to win individual figure skating gold in 24 years.<\/p>\n

Answering questions, Liu said she wanted to skate at the world championships this year \u2014 really wanted to.<\/p>\n

\"Oakland Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee introduces Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu during a rally at the Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland on Thursday. Thousands came out to honor Liu for her gold medal in Women\u2019s Ice Skating at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. PAUL KITAGAKI JR. pkitagaki@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

\u201cNot just because I like to compete,\u201d she said, \u201cbut also because so many people are doing worlds, and (it\u2019s) probably going to be a lot of their last competitions, and so I want to be there just like final goodbye and stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then reality \u2014 and adulthood \u2014 cut in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so many commitments I have and activities that are overlapping with worlds,\u201d she said, \u201cAlso, I don\u2019t have much time training, so I was like, \u2018I can\u2019t, I can\u2019t be doing worlds.\u2019 I don\u2019t think I would be able to put out my best performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tammy Tammy Mah Ung, Kenny Jong and April Salazar cheer during a celebration rally or Alysa Liu at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland on Thursday. Thousands came out to honor Liu for her Gold Medal in Women\u2019s Ice Skating at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics. PAUL KITAGAKI JR. pkitagaki@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Suddenly a global star, Liu is trying to make big-girl decisions while keeping her sanity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got to show my programs already on the biggest stage, so I feel satisfied with that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Liu knows that for many fans \u2014 especially Asian American kids \u2014 she\u2019s become more than an athlete.<\/p>\n

\u201cRepresentation matters so much,\u201d she said. \u201cWe don\u2019t really realize it, but having one person is kind of all you need sometimes. So I\u2019m always so grateful and just honored that I could be that for some people, and that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liu, who is half Chinese and grew up in a fully Chinese household, lit up when asked about her background.<\/p>\n

\"A A member of a crowd of thousands holds a picture of Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu during a celebration in her honor at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland on Thursday. PAUL KITAGAKI JR. pkitagaki@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

\u201cI love being half Chinese, and both my parents are actually full Chinese, so raised in a complete Chinese household,\u201d she said. \u201cIt shaped a lot of who I am today. And, I mean, I love it. Come on, the food\u2019s so good. And I love the parties \u2014 Chinese parties, guys, they\u2019re really good. We\u2019re big on family, which I love. So it\u2019s definitely a positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before her Olympic title, Liu walked away from elite competition for roughly two years \u2014 a move that has since been framed as part of a broader conversation about athletes needing breaks for their mental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaking breaks are really important,\u201d she said. \u201cBut for me, it wasn\u2019t even really a break. It was just shifting and doing something different, which I think is equally as important.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was originally published March 12, 2026 at 3:30 PM.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

David Caraccio<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

David Caraccio is a video producer for The Sacramento Bee who was born and raised in Sacramento. He is a graduate of San Diego State University and a longtime journalist who has worked for newspapers as a reporter, editor, page designer and digital content producer.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arriving in her hometown like the U.S. Olympic hero she is, Alysa Liu on Thursday made the post-victory…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[64618,42151,99723,143,145,144,99722,81426],"class_list":["post-217487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-alysa-liu","tag-figure-skating","tag-milano-cortina-2026","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-oakland-rally","tag-olympic-gold"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}