OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — Olympic figure skater Alysa Liu is back home after medaling in Italy. The gold medalist has been spotted at multiple spots around the Bay Area in the past 24 hours.
Alysa Liu landed at SFO on Monday and walked off the plane into a golden tunnel as the crowd cheered for her and one person shouting, “Oakland Loves you!”
Recording her homecoming was Nathalie Cardoza who was on Liu’s flight from Atlanta.
“It was so cool. She walked out and I don’t think she expected all these people but yeah- everyone was applauding for her,” said Cardoza
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For the five-hour flight, Cardoza said no one knew Alysa was on board.
“We landed and the flight attendant made the announcement sponsoring Delta with the Olympics and she congratulated the gold medalist Alysa, and we were all kind of confused and she said, ‘Yes, she’s in the back of the plane.’ So, we all looked back and she’s seating there and everyone started applauding,” said Cardoza.
Cardoza, documenting that moment with a selfie, says Alysa has inspired her as a young barber at her family-owned business “Barber Shop Don Luis JR” in Livermore.
“Everything she has proven to others it makes you want to do more and put the effort and work,” said Cardoza.
“Do you want her to come here?” ABC7 Eyewitness News reporter Luz Pena asked.
“Yeah, I’ll do her hair,” said Cardoza.
RELATED: FROM THE ARCHIVE: Oakland’s Alysa Liu was making history at 13 and had Olympic dreams
ABC7 News reporter Lyanne Melendez spoke with Oakland’s own Alysa Liu in 2019 when she was just 13, and thinking about her future Olympic dreams.
That same excitement was seen at the Italian restaurant Trabocco in Alameda Tuesday night.
“I saw a lot of commotion and my wife, she was very excited and I said, ‘What happened?’ and she said, ‘We have a gold medal in the house,”‘ said Giuseppe Naccarelli, Owner of Trabocco Kitchen and Cocktails.
Giuseppe Naccarelli said everyone wanted to tell Liu how proud they were of her.
“Everybody recognized her and they came to the table and everybody wanted to pay the check. I want to offer the appetizer. She was very open, very relaxed very smiley- she didn’t mind at all the excited about her and that was very cool,” said Naccarelli.
Alysa’s dish that night was fettuccine bolognese.
“We made a congratulation plate with chocolate cake, and she loved the tiramisu and she thought it was the best tiramisu she’s had. So I’ll take it,” said Naccarelli.
RELATED: Oakland’s Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu inspires young athletes at her local ice rink
Those visiting the restaurant on Wednesday were shocked.
“I can’t believe I’m seating at the same table. What a history she has and such an accomplishment for a young woman. I’m just amazed. She was so terrific,” said Elaine H, an Alameda resident.
In Liu’s hometown of Oakland, the love has also reached new heights.
“For this week, we are on five billboards along the 880. We don’t want people to slow down too much. Keep up with traffic but definitely pay a nod and check out Alysa” said Kim Bardakian, communications director for the office of the Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee. “Everything about her, her humbleness, her swag, her joy, her grit- a little bit of all of that is Alysa and it’s truly what we are in Oakland.”
Bardakian confirmed there will be a celebration for Alysa Liu.
“As you might imagine her schedule is crazy right now, but we are confirming any day now the exact day of the celebration that will not only be for Oakland, but for the entire Bay Area,” said Bardakian.
You can watch the Olympic gold medalist in action on “Stars on Ice” at SAP Center in May.
If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
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