As you know, the 2026 Olympics has officially come to an end! There were so many memorable performances and moments that no one is going to forget anytime soon. Today, I want to tell you about a person who has been become all the rage on social media: Alysa Liu.
Alysa Liu is a 20 year old American figure skater, and is now the 2026 Olympic Champion for women’s figure skating. However, she didn’t just become an insane figure skater now, because when she was just 13 years old the youngest US national champion. She was the first woman to successfully complete a quadruple jump and triple axel in a competition.
After this win (and many more), people expected her to compete more and win more. What she did next came as the ultimate shock.
She retired at 16 years of age.
She explained how even though she loved figure skating, she hated the expectations and pressure that came along with it, so she decided to quit. She experienced life for the first time as a normal student as she went to college and behaved as she wished.
Unsurprisingly, she returned to the sport. How could someone stay away from something they loved so much? Fast-forward to 2024 and she’s back on the ice! And she didn’t just return, she actually dominated.
During the 2026 Olympics, people weren’t impressed that she took a break and came back and won, nor that she landed some crazy moves, but just the way she skated was what made everyone’s jaws drop. As she was skating, you couldn’t tell that this was a competition, because it looked more like a performance. She looked calm and excited and just so at-ease as she freely skated for everyone across the world to see.
However the reason she looked like she was having such a good time being back on the ice was that now she did things her own way. She picked out her costume, songs, and moves and made sure that she was happy and comfortable doing it all. Because she was doing what made her happy in her own way, she was able to truly showcase her true potential and wow the audience. People online have not just been going crazy for her personality, crazy hair and lip piercing, but for her story. Her story shows 2 valuable lessons that everyone should keep in mind. The first of them being that you should not only do what you love, but do it in a way that satisfies you. The second is that it’s ok to take a break and find yourself, because in the end you can come back stronger than ever before.
So even though the Olympics are finished, Alysa Liu is just getting started once again!
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