The 2026 Winter Olympics have taken over Milan, Italy, and ice skater Alysa Liu is amid the action. Liu, 20, hails from California and made her Olympic debut in 2022 in Beijing. She was only 16 years old at her first Olympics, and then, she retired from skating after the Games.
But, that retirement didn’t last, and Liu is back for another round of Olympic action. So, who are the people behind Liu? Meet her parents and family with these fun facts.
Alysa Liu Retired From Skating for Personal Reasons, But She Came Back
Speaking with NBC News about her decision to retire at 16, Liu explained that skating was getting in the way of her being a normal teenager.
“I started when I was 5 and I basically didn’t stop until 16, and I was homeschooled my whole life,” Liu told NBC News. “And I’m a very social person. I crave human connection. And I was living by myself for many years, no family, no friends around, all for the sake of training.”
She told Elle in a separate interview, “I graduated high school at 15, because everyone wanted me to graduate a year before the Olympics, so for a year I could just focus on training.”
She and Her Siblings Were Born to Surrogate Mothers Through Anonymous Egg Doners
Liu is anything but an only child. The Richmond, California, native is the oldest of five siblings, Selina, Julia, Joshua and Justin, and the daughter of Arthur Liu.
Her father, according to NBC Olympics, “emigrated from China and Alysa and her four younger siblings were born to surrogate mothers through anonymous egg donors. Liu’s father, an attorney, first brought her to the Oakland Ice Center, where coaches quickly noticed her talent and thirst to learn.”
She’s the Reigning World Champion, After Winning the Title in 2025
So, Liu un-retired and decided to get back to the sport of figure skating. She made the decision to return during a skiing trip, where a friend inspired Liu to get back into figure skating. It was a good decision, too, because in 2025, she won the title at the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships in Boston.
Following her two-year retirement, she returned to skating to snag the gold, notching the first U.S. women’s world title in 19 years.
She Was the Youngest U.S. Figure Skating National Champion in History
In 2019, Liu earned the title of the youngest U.S. figure skating national champion in history, winning the title at age 13 in 2019.
She’s also the first U.S. female figure skater to land a quadruple jump in international competition, according to official Team USA research.
When She’s Not on the Ice, She Has a Passion for Photography
Being a successful figure skater takes time and effort. But, when he’s not on the ice, Liu has a love for figure skating.
“During her two-year hiatus from skating, Liu climbed to the top of Mount Everest base camp (17,000+ ft above sea level) with friends,” the Team USA website explains.
Her Former Coach Compares Her To Tiger Woods
“I hate the term, but she was a phenom from the start,” Phillip DiGuglielmo, who has coached the skater on and off for more than a decade, tells Elle. “I really think that Alysa is in that little pantheon with Tiger Woods, Serena Williams, and Simone Biles. She is absolutely on par with those phenomenal athletes.”
DiGuglielmo adds, “Before her self-imposed retirement, she really just did everything people told her to do. She never questioned it. I don’t know if you can remember yourself when you were 12 or 13, but you didn’t question authority.”
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