When you look at Alysa Liu, you immediately notice that giggly smile. But behind that smiling face, there was much more than anyone could see. Yes, she has done more than anybody could have ever dreamed of at her age. She has competed in the 2022 Beijing Olympics at the age of 16 and won a gold medal in the 2026 Winter Olympics at the age of 20.

But even with all that success, there are moments from her early career that she doesn’t remember, even when she was winning!

One of those moments? Her first big milestone from when she was 13. That is the year when she became the youngest woman to win the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at the beginning of January 2019, surpassing the record of Tara Lipinski, who won at the age of 14 in 1997. You would think that anybody should remember the first major victory of their life, right? But Liu doesn’t.

In a Rolling Stone interview, she explained: “Yeah, I definitely, I blocked them out for sure. It kind of feels like every time I see a clip of it, it’s like I’m watching a movie because I know that’s me, but it’s like I’m seeing what everyone else is seeing. It feels like a completely different person.”

When asked why, Alysa Liu added, “Probably because [that time in my life] was so bad, I just didn’t want to remember it. Every day was the same for me. And i practice was so serious. Like I would cry after falling on every jump. The team I had around me was so strict. So I was in fight-or-flight mode all the time.”

At the time, her days were relentless. Liu was at the rink from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., skating every day because she feared missing a session would make her lose her jumps or skills. And the schedule was so intense that she can barely recall those years.

“I missed birthdays and holidays, so that also makes the timeline a little sketchy for me. There’s no pinpoints,” she said.

Sure, at that time, she developed the jumps that would soon make history. However, the long hours of work, the rigorous schedules, and the pressure had exhausted her emotionally and mentally. Viewing old videos of herself today, Alysa Liu admits that it feels like “watching a different person” because those memories don’t feel like her own.

Nevertheless, she did not give up. She continued to compete at the international level, won a World Junior bronze medal, earned a bronze medal at the 2022 World Championship, and has shown she can compete at the highest level. But at some point, she decided to retire at an extremely young age of 16, a choice that makes sense today!

Alysa Liu refused to repeat her old burnout pattern

In 2022, immediately after the Beijing Olympics, Alysa Liu retired from competitive figure skating at the age of only 16. She felt burned out and felt like she had given it her all to the sport.

“I was so into skating that I really didn’t do much else. Skating takes up your whole life… there were many, many times when I didn’t enjoy it,” she said. She felt ready to step back,take a break and experience the normal teenage life she’d missed like concerts, skiing, snowboarding, getting her driver’s license and even spending time at college. Looking back, she says, “If it’s really such a struggle I would say definitely take that break… Don’t be scared of failure.”

Alysa Liu gradually made a comeback to skating after two years of absence on her own terms. Skiing on the slopes in 2024, and experiencing that same rush, she remembered that she enjoyed being on ice. She hence started again, not to win medals or to meet hopes. In 2024, she formally indicated that she was coming back and was training and competing with greater control over her time, music, choreography, and creative choices.

Even her comeback was outstanding. She won the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships and then at the 2026 Winter Olympics, she won two gold medals in women’s singles and the team event.

However, despite such a victory, Alysa Liu wants to ensure that she does not repeat her past mistakes. She does not want to hurry into a punishing competitive schedule, but rather focus on balance. Immediately after the Olympics, she took a five-day break with no interviews, no media, no obligations….just time to herself.

She said, “After I won, [there] was no sleep…. I went home and I literally did whatever I wanted for five days. I didn’t have any media, and I had no commitments, so it was really great. I got to see a lot of my friends again, and just relax and catch up on sleep. I skated twice just because I wanted to.”

To Alysa Liu, skating is now a matter of pleasure, passion, and harmony, not the medals- a lesson that she learned very painfully as a teenager.