When Alysa Liu’s free skate came to an end, the scoreboard confirmed what the roaring crowd already suspected. The 20-year-old did it! She became the first American woman in 24 years to claim Olympic figure skating gold. However, the path from her Beijing disappointment to this particular moment in Milan was paved not in a rink, but on a mountainside, with her closest friend by her side.

Speaking to CBS Mornings, Liu’s best friend Tseh Newton opened up about the seemingly small moment that sparked one of the most stunning comebacks in figure skating history. Early in 2024, during a ski trip, Liu, two years into her retirement, transitioned from the intense pressures of elite sport to backpacking adventures and psychology classes at UCLA.

Newton recalled the drive that morning with vivid detail, stating, “I remember it was like our first time skiing and we were driving and she was like, I’m going to do black diamond today. And like some people say that as a joke, she was dead serious. I was like, we need to take it slow. We’re not, we’re not going on a black diamond or double black diamond anywhere in this morning.”

What Newton witnessed that day was the competitive fire that had made Liu the youngest U.S. champion at 13. Indeed, that spirit of a young woman who had abandoned skating due to lack of love was still present.

“But at the same time, it’s like, I knew that she would pick it up. And she did by the, by the end of the day, she probably could have done that diamonds. I mean, she’s just so athletically gifted in a lot of ways, like doing a sport like that again, that’s so fun. I wasn’t surprised that it reminded her of what she found in skating that she liked on the ride home from that trip.” Newton said.

News served to you like never before!

Prefer us on Google, To get latest news on feed

Prefer Us on Google

The skiing trip became an unexpected catalyst for Alysa Liu’s comeback. “She just kind of talked it through with us and she still wasn’t sure at the start. And then she was like, I’ll just try going to the rink with you in the morning. And if I can land all my drops, I’ll come back. And I was like, okay, let’s do it. Yeah. She kind of unsurprisingly was able to pick them all up within the morning,” the figure skating star’s friend recalled.

So, Liu walks away from Milan with not one but two Olympic golds, and she has also provided an insight into her future.

Alysa Liu might just have been reborn

The same figure skater who once said, “I really despised skating,” bagged two Olympic gold medals at the Milan Games. For Alysa Liu, this wasn’t any normal comeback; this was a statement to the entire world that the same girl who once won the U.S. title at the age of 13 is back on the rink and even better.

And when asked if she’s vying to compete more, Liu said, “Yeah, I mean, I have no plans to leave yet. I can’t imagine not skating the next year, so…” The statement came during her conversation with an NBC reporter amidst the closing ceremony in Milan, and she seems nothing but thrilled to compete for more accolades.

Also, when Liu was asked how she compared this experience with the Beijing Games four years ago, which she had once described simply as “a job,” Liu opened up, stating, “Hmm… Definitely not a job. I don’t know, I just feel so lucky that I get to do this. And I love being an athlete. It’s the coolest thing in the world.”

That sums it up! The 20-year-old is already looking to compete for more, as she has embraced herself as the figure skater that the world has always wanted to see on the rink.