Alysa Liu announced her much-awaited trip to Milano for the 2026 Winter Games, set to kick off in February 2026. She was last in contention at the US Figure Skating Championships.
Liu brought fans to the edge of their seats with her short program-record-breaking performance at the Nationals, scoring 81.11. However, her teammate Amber Glenn lowered it just minutes later, earning 83.05.
Alysa Liu Can’t Keep Calm for the Winter Games in Cortina
Liu has been a dominant presence in women’s figure skating, serving finesse since the age of five. She was the youngest female skater to earn the intermediate gold medal at the 2016 US Championships and continued to showcase in her junior and senior years. She won back-to-back National titles in 2019 and 2020, and a world bronze medal before winning the world championship in the 2025 edition.
She also competed at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and later announced her retirement, feeling satisfied with what she had achieved. She mounted a comeback in the 2024–25 season and has been unstoppable since.
At the recently concluded Nationals, she revamped her usual routine and incorporated Lady Gaga’s ‘Chromatica,’ ‘Paparazzi,’ and ‘Bad Romance,’ paired with her alternate platinum blonde–striped hair and a matching costume that complemented her hairdo.
Following the pathbreaking stint, in which she finished with silver behind Glenn, Liu shared a video of herself playing with her hair and looking ecstatic, with the Winter Games less than a month away. In her caption, she expressed gratitude to her friends, family, and those who have supported her throughout her skating journey.
“We running it back. Thank you to my friends, family, team, & everyone that trusted my many visions & supported me through everything. Cause now I get to share alllllll that shit on the big stages in Milan, both on & off the ice,” the 20-year-old wrote.
READ MORE: Alysa Liu Opened Up About Why She Will Not Perform the Lady Gaga Program in Milan
Liu will aim for a podium finish in Cortina. She placed eighth in the short program in Beijing and was surprised by how well she performed.
Liu Opened Up About Why She Will Not Perform the Lady Gaga Program in Milan
Liu has been very particular about the routines she would go for on the competitive level. She debuted her Gaga program in September last year, featuring ‘Bloody Mary,’ but that went through several music rights issues. So, she performed her signature MacArthur Park free skate in the Grand Prix final and won the gold.
At the US Championships this year, she wanted to go out of her way and bring a Gaga medley to life, even if she knew it wouldn’t make the cut at the Olympics. The Games’ environment is different. While the pop-heavy blend allows Liu to bring out her personality, it wouldn’t fit the Olympic standard of being complete and conventional in musicality and structure.
