Alysa Liu

Alysa Liu returned to elite figure skating in 2024 after two seasons away and won the discipline's two defining titles within the next competitive year. At the 2025 World Championships in Boston, she led both the short programme and free skate to finish first on 222.97 points. At the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, she raised her total to a personal-best 226.79 and won the women's singles championship. She also contributed to the United States gold medal in the team event. Liu works as a women's singles skater in California and represents the United States national team; her Chinese family heritage places her within FigureAsia's global Asian diaspora.

The selection, however, begins with the scores and completed championships rather than the appeal of a comeback. Elite singles skating asks one athlete to combine high-value technical elements with speed, control and presentation across two programmes, then repeat that work when every error is visible to judges and rivals. Liu did so first at the world championships and again at the Games, improving her total at the latter event. Her return also changed the competitive terms of the women's field. An athlete who had not competed for two seasons re-entered senior events, rebuilt championship capacity and defeated the available world and Olympic fields. The consequence extended beyond personal recovery: she supplied the decisive individual performance for a world title, an Olympic singles title and a share of an Olympic team championship.