Just as Alysa Liu was experiencing flashbacks to a nightmare episode from her past, a rival-turned-teammate stepped in to help, leaving Liu incredibly grateful for the timely intervention.

In 2022, Alysa Liu found herself in a scary situation after performing her free skate in the Beijing Olympics. Late at night, she was in a cafeteria briefly all alone, when a stranger came up to her, and, after a moment, followed her for a short distance and invited her to visit his apartment. Liu refused and walked away. Now, four years later, she experienced a similar incident. But this time, she hald help.

Now on the Stars on Ice tour, Liu has been performing in Japan alongside a strong cast that includes Ilia Malinin, Jason Brown, and the ice dance pair Madison Chock and Evan Bates. Right there with her are the skaters’ fans, often grouped as the “Blade Angels,” featuring Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito. Despite such support, not all of the moments on the tour have been smooth.

During a conversation with Nick Remsen, Alysa Liu shared a “sticky situation” that she encountered in Japan. “Isabeau and I, we were arm-in-arm, being followed by men, and they kept stopping in front of us,” she said. Before it could go any further, Glenn stepped in.

As Alysa Liu described it, “Amber literally was like, ‘Get back.’ She’s mama bear.” She also added, “She’s been so protective.” That moment says a lot about their bond. Interestingly, their connection has been building for years.

Once competitors on the international stage, Liu and Glenn later stood side by side as teammates for Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics, where they were part of the gold medal-winning team event. Off the ice, that relationship feels stronger. They appear on each other’s social media, film TikTok videos together, and spend time outside competitions. They even went out exploring together during the Grand Prix Final in Japan.

For Alysa Liu, Glenn is not a teammate, but “She’s just such a big sister to me,” Liu said. “The idea that we compete against each other is so weird to me. I really just see her as one of my friends and truly one of my teammates. I don’t know, doing things with her is really fun.”

But the support between them goes both ways. Alysa Liu has also been there for Amber Glenn at key moments.

Alysa Liu stands by Amber Glenn during a soul-crushing skate

In the short program in the 2026 Winter Olympics, Amber Glenn began her skate well and even hit a challenging triple axel. Everything looked perfect for a moment. However, then there was one little slip, and everything became different. When she was on her final jump, which was a forceful triple loop, she mistimed the jump, and instead of a triple, she landed on a double. That was a loss to her in that element, which is a very expensive mistake in a short program.

The impact was immediate. Glenn dropped down the standings and finished 13th overall. Right after she finished her skate, emotions took over. In the kiss and cry area, while waiting for her scores, she broke down in tears. At that time, Alysa Liu had already completed her own performance and was sitting in a much stronger position. She had skated well, scored 76.59, and was sitting 3rd overall, leading the American women and firmly in medal contention going into the next segment.

For a brief moment, she was in a completely different emotional space, focused on her own result. But that changed quickly when she saw Glenn. The joy Alysa Liu had after her skate faded as she watched her teammate struggle emotionally. Later, she spoke about it with reporters, saying:

“She’s gone through so much, and she works so friggen’ hard, like genuinely, such a hard worker, and she’s overcome a lot. I just want her to be happy. That’s genuinely all I want. And so I’ll be seeing her later, don’t worry, guys. We’ll stick together.”

When asked if it was hard to see Glenn like that, Alysa Liu expressed, “She’s super strong, so she can handle it,” she said. In that moment, it was clear. Even though they compete as individuals, the bond between them is stronger than scores, placements, or pressure.