Meet Alysa Liu: USA's Winter Olympics Gold Medalist Who Was Targetted By Chinese Spies
On and off the skating rink, Alysa Liu's journey to become the first female American figure skater in 24 years to win an individual Olympic gold medal has been nothing short of a rollercoaster.
- Alysa Liu, 20, recently became USA's first female figure skater to win an individual Olympic gold
- Liu, whose father escaped China in 1989, was reportedly targetted by Chinese spies in 2022
- She had announced her retirement in 2022, but came back to win gold at the World Championships and Olympics
Alysa Liu made history on Friday at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics 2026, becoming the first female figure skater in 24 years to deliver an individual gold medal for the United States of America (USA). However, the 20-year-old's journey to the top has been nothing short of a rollercoaster. Between 2022 - her first experience of the Olympics - and 2026, Liu had reportedly been involved in a Chinese spying operation and also announced a temporary retirement due to burnout. Here's her story.
16 years before her birth, Alysa Liu's father, Arthur Liu, had escaped China in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. According to a report by USA Today, Arthur was among those in a "most wanted" list, and fled to Hong Kong before eventually settling in northern California.
In 2022, five men were charged by the US Justice Department for allegedly spying on Chinese dissidents on behalf of the Chinese government. Alysa Liu and Arthur Liu were among those targetted, as told by the latter to AP.
"In a weird way, I was like, 'Am I in some prank show? Is this world real?" Alysa Liu said in October while discussing the matter at a Team USA media event in New York.
Liu's journey on the skating rink has also seen its fair share of ups and downs. After a trophy-laden youth career, she finished an underwhelming sixth in the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022. Soon after, she shocked the world by announcing her retirement, later revealing that she wasn't enjoying the sport.
However, Liu rediscovered her lost motivation and made a comeback in 2024. And what a return it has been. Liu won gold in the World Championships in 2025, and is now a double Olympic gold medalist.
The 20-year-old with the striped hair, prominent frenulum piercing and carefree attitude never showed any worry or strain when she took the ice for her free skate on Thursday night. Instead, Liu waved up at her friends and family in the stands, grinned throughout her program, and acted as if she was going through just another training session at the Oakland Ice Center back in California.
"My family is out there. My friends are out there. I had to put on a show for them," Liu said afterward. "When I see other people out there smiling, because I see them in the audience, then I have to smile, too. I have no poker face."
With AP inputs