Bay Area's Alysa Liu a symbol of joy as she ends U.S. women's gold medal drought

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From left, silver medalist Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, gold medalist Alysa Liu of the United States, and bronze medalist Ami Nakai of Japan, on the podium to receive their medals after competing in the women's free skate program in figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (Natacha Pisarenko/AP)


Richmond's Alysa Liu taught us all a lesson. Of all the elements required in her demanding, intricate sport, the most important?

Joy.

Liu, 20, capped her improbable comeback by becoming the first American woman singles figure skater to win a gold medal in 24 years and the first to win a medal of any color since 2006, when she was just six months old.

Eight American women have earned skating's top honor. Three of them - Peggy Fleming, Kristi Yamaguchi and now Liu - are from the Bay Area and two, Yamaguchi and Liu, are from the East Bay.

As Liu came off the ice after her flawless free skate, she pointed at the camera and screamed "That's what I'm f-ing talking about!" before leaping into her coaches' arms.

All week she radiated joy, the ingredient that had been missing from her younger self, the unhappy, stressed-out kid who stormed onto the scene at 13 but retired after the Beijing Olympics at 16. Joy and lightheartedness are qualities hard to find in a competitive skating rink, where the pressure and expectations are ratcheted up to unbearable levels.

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Alysa Liu of the United States competes in the women's free skate on Thursday at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. (Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images)


In Milan, we watched Ilia Malinin, the "Quad God," collapse under the pressure. We saw Amber Glenn miss a jump in her short program and dissolve in tears, calling her experience "soul-crushing." Another American skater, Isabeau Levito, came off the ice Thursday and immediately said, "I'm sorry," to her coach.

The place where skaters sit to wait for their scores isn't called the "kiss and cry" for no reason.

But after Liu's performance, which should become a lesson for everyone in the sport, they could call it the "kiss and giggle."


Liu wore a dazzling dress of gold spangles for her free skate, but she insisted her success would not be defined by that color of medal - or any medal at all.

"I don't need a medal," she told reporters this week, though she had already won a gold medal earlier in the Games as part of the U.S. team event.

"That just doesn't seem like a horrible situation. I'd still be OK with that if that were a movie."

Instead, what unfolded on the Italian ice was a classic, cinematic comeback story.

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Alysa Liu of the United States competes in the women's free skate on Thursday at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. (ANTONIN THUILLIER/AFP via Getty Images)


Liu was the third-to-last skater to take the ice, so she had to wait to learn her placing. After her spectacular program to "MacArthur Park" that had the crowd on its feet, she knew she was guaranteed a medal. She sat smiling and clapping for her competitors. While waiting for the scores after the final skater, Japan's 17-year-old Ami Nakai, was done, Liu went over to Glenn for a hug and support.

And when the results came and Liu learned she had won gold, what was the first thing she did? She went to hug Nakai in the kiss-and-cry and ended up comforting her when the young skater burst into tears in her arms.

Liu knows how that pressure feels.

Liu walked away from figure skating four years ago, saying it was the best decision she ever made. She did kid things. She hung out with her four younger siblings. She went trekking in the Himalayas. She completed her freshman year at UCLA. One of her new, fun activities led her to a ski run in Lake Tahoe. After experiencing the rush of adrenaline and the joy she felt at skiing, she wondered if she could get that again in skating - which also had the bonus of not being a four-hour drive from home.

So she pulled out her skates and went to the rink. And then she did it again. And again. And she let her coach know she was contemplating a comeback.

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Alysa Liu of the United States competes in the women's free skate on Thursday at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. (WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images)


What she didn't do was let her controlling father know until the comeback was already underway. She took the Amtrak from Los Angeles to Oakland and surprised her father at his law office. She told him she was making a comeback but that, this time, she would be in control.

"I told him last because I didn't want him to think I was doing it for him," she said.

She wanted her skating to be fun. She wanted to pick her coaches, her costumes, her music, her choreography. She wanted to have her own look, her own vibe. She wanted the process to be filled with lightness and joy.

And it worked. A few months after diving seriously into her comeback, she won the world championship in Boston last March. That put all the Olympic pressure fully back on her shoulders, but she refused to let it bend or break her.

That lightness came through in her skating this week.

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Alysa Liu of the United States competes in the women's free skate on Thursday at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. (PIERO CRUCIATTI/AFP via Getty Images)


"There's just no weight," commentator Tara Lipinski said of Liu's performance. "She's so loose."

Her father and siblings cheered in the stands, some holding "big head" photos of the middle school version of Liu who won back-to-back national championships. Liu's siblings had never seen her competitions before, too busy with school. And they had been thrilled when she retired, because they got to spend time with her. But now they were bursting with pride.

Also bursting with pride is the East Bay. Liu's home is in Richmond but she trains in Oakland, as well as at San Francisco's Yerba Buena, and she often shouts out Oakland, including after her short program on Tuesday.

Before Thursday's competition, Oakland's Marshawn Lynch put out a video message to Liu, telling her to "go out there and win some gold. Bring that s- back to the town. Town business!"

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Alysa Liu of the United States competes in the women's free skate on Thursday at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. (Joosep Martinson/Getty Images)


She did. You could say she delivered Oakland's biggest sports win since the Warriors' 2018 championship.

Liu did it her way, innately understanding what so many fail to grasp. The reward isn't the medal.

The reward is the joy in the process.


This article originally published at Bay Area's Alysa Liu a symbol of joy as she ends U.S. women's gold medal drought.

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