2026 Winter Olympic gold medalist, Alyssa Liu, has brought an inspiring and uncommon outlook on competition and struggle to thousands of people through her popularity after winning gold at the Milano Cortina Games.
“There’s a really intense culture around the Olympics, and specifically figure skating…because you have to get these specific [moves] exactly right, and that’s how you win gold,” junior Alex Jackson said.
Figure skating is an Olympic sport that has an air of intensity and perfection surrounding it. The sport requires intense precision and dedication with each trick.
During the 2022 Olympics, Russian figure skater Alexandra Trusova broke down in tears after winning silver instead of gold.
Russian figure skaters training for the Olympics under Eteri Tutberidze, such as Trusova, were extremely overworked, denied solid food, and kept on a powder diet so that they could perform jumps such as quads.
Making history by being the first woman to land five quads in Olympic competition wasn’t enough to land Trusova first place, and all of her horrific training under Tutberidze amounted to nothing.
The world of Olympic figure skating for many years has been filled with intense competition and perfectionism. Liu has brought the complete opposite to the Olympics; she has brought a new carefree attitude to figure skating.
Liu’s popularity on apps such as TikTok has brought a new outlook on competitive sports and competition in general. In a feature with 60 Minutes, Liu said, “I love struggling, actually, it makes me feel alive.”
This outlook on competition contrasts heavily with Trusova’s: “For me, there are no other medals. I don’t think I achieved anything at the Olympics. For me, there’s only one medal – gold, the rest aren’t medals,” on Maxim Trankov’s podcast called “Free Program.”
Liu’s unique bleached ringed hairstyle, piercings, and alternative appearance are uncommon to see represented in professional settings like the Olympics.
“I’m alternative in a way, I have green hair…alternative people, from what I’ve seen, they get hate on a lot, from their clothes to their personality to their hairstyle, and it feels really good to see someone like her stepping out of her bubble and becoming someone famous and great in the world,” freshman Maddison Kase said.
“I think a lot of people can see what she does and take it as an inspiration to express themselves more within alignment of how they actually want to,” senior Olivia Jackson said.
At only twenty years old, Alysa Liu has a lot more time to influence many more people to be authentically themselves and not adhere to traditional standards, whether it be in sports, style or personality.
