After winning Olympic gold at Milano Cortina, Alysa Liu outlines her plan as she prepares her next chapter away from competitive skating.
By Rowan Fisher Shotton
At the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games, Alysa Liu delivered performances that blended technical firepower with a distinct personal voice.
Her defining moment came in the free skate. She delivered a nearly clean program, with only unclear takeoff edges on two triple flip attempts, to secure her first individual Olympic gold medal and a personal-best combined score.
In doing so, she became the first American woman to win an individual Olympic medal since Sasha Cohen earned silver in 2006, and the first to capture gold since Sarah Hughes in 2002. But the moment was bigger than the podium. It felt like an arrival, the kind that opens doors well beyond the rink.
Shortly after capping an unforgettable Winter Games, Liu began talking about what comes next.
“I have work that I want to put out,” she told E! News in an exclusive interview. “I have creative ideas. I’m really into fashion and I love to express myself in any way and sharing my story and my life experiences. I love storytelling and I love hearing other stories from other people, too.”
Alysa Liu’s Golden Run, and the Personality That Won Over Fans
Liu won both the individual and team gold at the Milano Cortina, a headline-making double that re-staked U.S. figure skating’s claim on the podium. Her free skate to “MacArthur Park,” and a Y2K, Gen-Z wardrobe that fans loved, also became a cultural moment, sparking style coverage.
Off the ice, quirky details (like her story about a smiley lip piercing) and a hero’s welcome at San Francisco International Airport kept her trending. Now, the conversation has shifted to what comes next and how she plans to carry that Olympic momentum beyond the rink.
For a 20-year-old former prodigy whose prime may still be ahead of her, that evolution feels less like a pivot and more like progression.
ROWAN FISHER SHOTTON – Rowan Fisher-Shotton is a versatile journalist known for sharp analysis, player-driven storytelling, and quick-turn coverage across CFB, CBB, the NBA, WNBA, and NFL.
Originally published at Sport Illustrated
