The 2026 Winter Olympics proved to be nothing short of a dream for Alysa Liu. After announcing a shock retirement from figure skating in 2022, the 20-year-old made a stunning comeback at the grandest stage of them all. She first bagged gold in the team event before becoming the Olympic champion in the individual free skate. She was one of the USA’s most decorated athletes throughout the games at Milan Cortina and is expected to receive a massive payout for her monumental achievement.

While the International Olympic Committee does not award any prize money to the athletes, many governments and national Olympic bodies do provide them with cash bonuses for finishing on podiums.

As per CNBC Sport, an athlete from USA receives $38,000 for bagging a gold medal, while silver and bronze medalists get $23,000 and $15,000 respectively. Going by this report, Alysa will receive $76,000 for winning two golds at the Winter Olympics.

The American athlete who will receive the biggest cash prize is speedskater Jordan Stolz. He claimed two golds and a silver, taking his sum to $99,000. Stolz clinched gold in the men’s 1,000m and 500m, and a silver in the 1500m. The American contingent finished the Olympics with the second-most medals at 33, including 12 golds. They only fell behind Norway, who won 41 medals in total, including 18 golds.

Alysa gave a major contribution towards the USA’s tally of gold medals and made a firm statement to say the least with her comeback. After falling out of love with figure skating at the age of 16, it appeared as if the teenage sensation, who had won the U.S. title at the age of just 13, had crumbled under the weight of expectations. But no one could have expected that her comeback would be so impressive.

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Alysa’s sensational return to figure skating

Alysa’s love for the sport returned after roughly two years and she took a U-turn from her retirement in March, 2024. As she announced her comeback, the expectations were high once again, but this time she ended up delivering big time. Her performance at the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships was nothing short of exceptional and she went on to win the women’s individual event. Things only got better in the 2025 Grand Prix final where she once again won the individual event.

Her success at the Winter Olympics was the cherry on top of the cake. The 20-year-old’s love for figure skating has now very much returned and so has her hunger to win. When asked whether she’s vying to compete more amidst the closing ceremony in Milan, Alysa had a straightforward answer. “Yeah, I mean, I have no plans to leave yet. I can’t imagine not skating the next year, so…” she said in a conversation with an NBC reporter.

Her father Arthur Liu has had a big role to play in her success and has supported her in every way he could. From making her learn under coaches from Japan and Canada to spending a huge sum of money on her training, he did everything in his arsenal to help her daughter in becoming a top figure skater.

How much money did Arthur invest in Alysa’s training?

With Alysa training under top coaches abroad, Arthur had to invest a staggering amount of money in order to help her reach the pinnacle of figure skating. In an interview with 60 Minutes ahead of the Olympics, her father revealed that he invested approximately $1 million into her career over the years. When asked about the amount of money that he invested, Arthur said, “I’d say half a million to a million dollars.”

He further said that once he realized about the potential that her daughter had, there was no going back. “I spared no money, no time. I just saw the talent,” he said during the interaction. It was also revealed that Arthur even went on to fire coaches that he thought weren’t able to train Alysa well. One of her coaches got sacked on a total of three occasions. Though the financial burden was huge, Arthur expressed faith in her daughter and his belief eventually paid off.

Arthur will be hoping that Alysa continues her red-hot form in the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships. She will enter the competition as the defending champion and will be the favorite to claim the crown once again following her heroic Olympic campaign. The championship will be held in Prague from March 24 and will go on till March 29.