If there was one performance Tuesday night at the Milan Ice Skating Arena that reminded viewers why Alysa Liu is one of the most compelling athletes at these Winter Olympics, it was the reigning World champion’s spellbinding short program. It earned her a new international personal best of 76.59 and put Team USA squarely in the medal conversation heading into Thursday’s free skate on NBC and Peacock. Currently sitting in third—just 0.64 points behind Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto and a little over two points behind leader Ami Nakai—Liu is within striking distance of a historic individual medal for the U.S. women. But for Liu, and the fans cheering her on, the score now feels almost secondary to the statement she is making.
The Alysa Liu on Olympic ice today is a far cry from the 16-year-old who admitted she felt burnt out after Beijing and stepped away from competition. With her signature bleached hair stripes and a smile that suggests a hard-won peace, Liu has become an icon of personal agency as much as athletic excellence. After retiring from the sport in 2022 to live like a normal teenager, she returned not because she had to, but because she rediscovered her love for the ice on her own terms. She has described this new chapter as fitting skating into her life—not forcing her life to revolve around skating—a shift that has transformed her from a pure technical jumping machine into a more complete artist. In the process, she is showing young athletes everywhere that walking away is not failure, but can be a necessary step toward finding genuine joy again.
Skating to Laufey’s “Promise,” Liu’s short program becomes an emotional window into that journey, with the haunting piano framing every edge and spin. The song’s story of letting go of an old relationship echoes her own complicated history with figure skating, from prodigy to retiree to unexpected comeback. When she landed her difficult triple Lutz–triple loop combination in the second half of the program, it was more than a technical highlight; it felt like a triumphant reclaiming of her talent and confidence. NBC analyst Johnny Weir has praised the healthy perspective Liu has found, calling it brave to put down the pressure that naturally comes with a sport where your life’s work is judged in four-minute increments. That sense of freedom is palpable to viewers who have watched her grow from a 13-year-old phenom into a 20-year-old woman unapologetically skating for herself.
Even as she carries the weight of a 20-year U.S. women’s Olympic medal drought on her shoulders, Liu appears remarkably unburdened. Whether she’s laughing off a small landing error or chatting in interviews about life outside the rink, she is quietly rewriting the script on what it looks like to be an elite competitor without losing your soul to the grind. As she heads into Thursday’s free skate in medal position, the world will tune in to see whether she can turn this comeback into a podium finish for Team USA. But for many watching, Alysa Liu has already won something larger than hardware, proving that the real victory is reclaiming not just a title, but your heart.