Alysa Liu not only won gold — she did it on her terms

Liu gave an electric performance in the free skate, drawing both gasps of awe and raucous cheers from a crowd eager to watch her perform. She dazzled with an opening triple flip and nearly brought the house down when she flew from a triple loop into an effortless spin as her music took an upbeat swing.

Liu did it all with a megawatt smile beaming to the world. She finished with aplomb, emphasizing her joyous routine with a hair flip as she struck her final pose. It was quintessential Liu: skating with as much elation as brilliance.

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“The thing is, what I like to share about myself is, my story, my art and my creative process,” Liu said about how she skates with so much joy. “And I guess messing up doesn't take away from that. It's still something. It's still a story. You know, a bad story is still a story. And I think that's beautiful. So there's no way to lose.”

Said her fellow "Blade Angel" Amber Glenn: “I’m so proud of her. The message that this is going to send to young athletes and parents alike that if you consider your mental health and treat it right, great things can happen.”

Liu’s ability to skate with so much passion and connect with the audience was on full display during her gold medal free skate. According to one of her coaches, Philip DiGuglielmo, that’s a unique ability.

“What she does is she somehow, through her performance, invites you not just to be a spectator, but you are becoming an active participant in her performance,” DiGuglielmo said before the Olympics. “She pulls you out there on the ice with her. She skates with abandon, like it isn’t the most important part of her life.”

DiGuglielmo texted NBC after she won that he had been confident in her performance because "she does that program that way everyday in practice. When you are that prepared you can go out with confidence."

When Liu retired in 2022, it was because she wanted to do anything but skate. From ages 5 to 16, Liu’s life revolved around the ice. She missed out on time with her family and friends. She wore dresses other people chose for her. She felt she had to go to the Olympics out of duty for her younger self.