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Go do it again because you’re gonna do this so again anyway. See, I think it’s. Whoever said quitters never win, never met Alissa Liu. I was done *** year before I quit. I knew I wanted to be done way before I actually announced my retirement. Olympic bronze medalist on the outside, miserable teenager on the inside. I didn’t care for my choreography, the dresses, um, that was all kind of picked for me, um, so I started to think like why am I doing this? And I just wanted to see my friends, my family. I was 16, homesick. She retired to become *** teenager, trading the icy cold for the warmth of family and friends, hiking the Himalayas and college at UCLA. Like I wouldn’t even step in the rank, honestly, I was low key, *** little bit traumatized. With the entrance and the exit, but two years later, the athlete who had been the youngest US figure skating champ at 13 and the first US female figure skater to land *** quadruple jump in international competition. Unretired. Not everyone thought Alyssa coming out of retirement was *** good idea, starting with her coach. I said, Please don’t. I really did. I said, Please don’t respect your legacy. Philip De Gallielmo has coached Alyssa since she was 5. We had *** Zoom call for about 2 hours, and the story is I had *** lot of glasses of wine over that 2 hours, and she talked me into. Her comeback. Just 7 months of training and *** lot of selfies later, Alyssa Liu won *** world title in the sport she left as *** child but returned to as an adult. Nobody’s ever taken this time off, come back and won the world championships. I have *** perspective that not many of the athletes. Right now in the sport have so many people. Their goal is Olympics, and when they get there and it’s over, it’s like they don’t know what to do. You’ve known her since she was 5 years old. What’s the biggest difference now in the coaching relationship because now you got *** 20 year old adult. My 5 year old Alyssa, or 6 year old Alyssa didn’t talk back. She didn’t even talk. Now she likes to talk back. No, now she’s in charge. It’s about Alissa showing what it’s like to love what you’re doing so much that you become the best in the world at it. The best in the world while also being the happiest girl on the ice, proving two things can be true and sometimes quitting is the quickest way to winning again. On the road to Milan Cortina, I’m Deirdre Fitzpatrick.
Alysa Liu brings fresh look: The two-time Olympic gold medalist with rings bleached in her hair
Updated: 9:25 AM EST Feb 20, 2026
The 2026 Winter Olympics are full of eye-catching moments of athletic excellence – ski jumpers in the air like flying squirrels, Breezy Johnson’s gold-medal downhill finish, and Ilia Malinin at the apex of a backflip on ice.But they’re also an opportunity to admire athletes’ individual expression, and there’s no better event for it than figure skating.Two-time Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu’s fashion and accessories are shaking up typical skater looks – and they’re integral to her presence at the Games.The 20-year-old made history as the youngest women’s national champion in history at age 13, but three years later, she announced her retirement. Now, at age 20, not long after coming out of retirement, Liu is skating on her own terms, having rediscovered her love of skating. Accompanying her new era is a wardrobe that feels more like herself.”Someone called my style alternative, and I’d agree with that,” she told NBC.Liu stands out with her smiley piercing, which goes through the frenulum behind the upper lip and is only revealed when she smiles. Her hair is also breaking the mold among skaters, with thick stripes bleached blond. She’s been adding one halo, as she calls them, per year since 2023, saying the stripes are like rings on a tree.On the ice, Liu now chooses her training outfits and has more of a say in the designs she sports. She’s been photographed training in spiral-adorned tights, and her skating dress at a recent championship featured a jagged hemline and elements drawn from Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” music video.Part of what motivated her decision to retire at 16, she has said, was how little control she had over her own life.”All my memories from back then are gone. I have no idea how I felt in the moment. I have watched it, and I was crying, and I seemed super happy, so I guess I was very happy,” she told Elle, reflecting on her wins at ages 12 and 13. “I didn’t enjoy skating back then because I didn’t make my own programs, I didn’t design my own dresses — I was just following orders.”As a teenager, she said she “grew to hate figure skating” and the demands of her training schedule. “All I wanted was to be with my family and friends at home, and live like a normal teenage girl.” Now, she told the AP, “I have ideas and concepts that I want to share with the world, so I’m happy to be here, versus last time I was kind of like, ‘Let’s get this over with.’ Now I want be here, and I don’t want this to end.”As for nerves at this year’s Games, she’s calm, cool and collected.”I don’t know what’s up with me,” she said. “They’re going to actually have to dissect my brain when I’m dead and figure me out.”PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=
The 2026 Winter Olympics are full of eye-catching moments of athletic excellence – ski jumpers in the air like flying squirrels, Breezy Johnson’s gold-medal downhill finish, and Ilia Malinin at the apex of a backflip on ice.
But they’re also an opportunity to admire athletes’ individual expression, and there’s no better event for it than figure skating.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu’s fashion and accessories are shaking up typical skater looks – and they’re integral to her presence at the Games.
The 20-year-old made history as the youngest women’s national champion in history at age 13, but three years later, she announced her retirement.
Now, at age 20, not long after coming out of retirement, Liu is skating on her own terms, having rediscovered her love of skating. Accompanying her new era is a wardrobe that feels more like herself.
“Someone called my style alternative, and I’d agree with that,” she told NBC.
Liu stands out with her smiley piercing, which goes through the frenulum behind the upper lip and is only revealed when she smiles.
Her hair is also breaking the mold among skaters, with thick stripes bleached blond. She’s been adding one halo, as she calls them, per year since 2023, saying the stripes are like rings on a tree.
On the ice, Liu now chooses her training outfits and has more of a say in the designs she sports. She’s been photographed training in spiral-adorned tights, and her skating dress at a recent championship featured a jagged hemline and elements drawn from Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” music video.
Part of what motivated her decision to retire at 16, she has said, was how little control she had over her own life.
“All my memories from back then are gone. I have no idea how I felt in the moment. I have watched it, and I was crying, and I seemed super happy, so I guess I was very happy,” she told Elle, reflecting on her wins at ages 12 and 13. “I didn’t enjoy skating back then because I didn’t make my own programs, I didn’t design my own dresses — I was just following orders.”
As a teenager, she said she “grew to hate figure skating” and the demands of her training schedule. “All I wanted was to be with my family and friends at home, and live like a normal teenage girl.”
Now, she told the AP, “I have ideas and concepts that I want to share with the world, so I’m happy to be here, versus last time I was kind of like, ‘Let’s get this over with.’ Now I want be here, and I don’t want this to end.”
As for nerves at this year’s Games, she’s calm, cool and collected.
“I don’t know what’s up with me,” she said. “They’re going to actually have to dissect my brain when I’m dead and figure me out.”
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