The "Smiley" Figure Skater: How Alysa Liu's Gold Changed the Sport Forever

By: Sophie LeBlanc, Staff Writer Edited by: Savannah Stewart

Figure skater Alysa Liu is an artist and a performer; her Olympic gold medal is simply the result of that.

She first hit the ice at five years old and made her natural-born star qualities exceedingly clear. At 13, she appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and competed against adults to win national accolades. She competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing at 16, but stepped away from the ice a few months later, admitting the toll skating took on her life and happiness.

She returned to the ice for this year’s Winter Olympic Games, not by the demand of a coach or a parent, or because she needed to win, but because she wanted to. Liu came in with a bang, landing triple axels like she never left. Figure skating was once something to be endured — from painful after-school practices to demanding weekend competitions — instead became an art form Liu translated to her short program and free skate on the Olympic stage. Liu, the first American female skater to win gold in 24 years, brought home the gold after nailing a soulful free skate to Donna Summer’s 1978 cover of “MacArthur Park.” 

Liu’s resurgence circulated on social media, reaching far beyond the ice and traditional sports broadcasts. Clips of her free skate have racked up millions of views on TikTok and Instagram through shares by both skating fans and non-skating ones alike. With her smiley piercing––a small piercing connecting the upper lip to the gums––and alt aesthetic, Liu does not resemble the rigid, hyper-polished image of a figure skater. Instead, she presents herself as approachable and relatable, bridging the gap between an elite sport and youth culture to reframe figure skating as fun and contemporary.

Liu’s movements are notably fluid and dance-like, favoring continuity and musicality over sharp, mechanical transitions. Her routines are "effortless," not because they lack technical rigor, but because they mask difficulty with ease. Her infectious joy transforms how spectators interpret her success. Each combination becomes part of a larger emotional narrative instead of isolated feats of athleticism.

For the Olympics and other widely broadcast sporting events, figure skating is a sport that regularly receives droves of public traction due to its entertaining, performance-like quality. However, it is also known to have ultra-competitive, cut-throat historical undertones.

This can be attributed to the infamous scandal involving Tonya Harding, whose ex-husband orchestrated a violent attack on her rival and fellow Team USA member, Nancy Kerrigan. More recently, in 2022, Russian skaters Anna Shcherbakova (gold) and Alexandra Trusova (silver) were dramatically pitted against each other in pursuit of the number one spot, which gained a lot of attention. The sport has begun to be viewed almost like a reality show filled with drama, rivalry, and spectacle. But with humility and a seamless, sparkly free skate, Alysa Liu is actively rewriting the sport’s narrative as a joyful one.

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