By the age of 16, Alysa Liu had already achieved what many skaters spend years chasing! She had won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships twice and was part of the 2022 Winter Olympics. For many watching, it felt like the moment her career was about to climb even higher. But in 2022, Liu retired from the sport, saying the years of pressure had left her burned out. But now that she has returned to the ice, she has recently opened up about the reason behind her return.

“It was really traumatizing to go back to the rink. I had to go with my best friend, otherwise I would have never tried it again. It was really scary to go back,” Liu said while looking back on her first time returning to the ice in 2024 after staying away from skating for nearly two years.

The incident that changed everything happened during a visit to Lake Tahoe in January 2024. Alysa Liu was there with her friends, and she decided to ski for the first time since retiring. Usually, figure skaters are very careful not to engage in activities such as skiing due to the probability of getting injured, but this time around, she allowed herself the pleasure.

The sensation reminded her of the feeling of gliding across the ice. In that moment, a thought crossed her mind: “Wait, let me get on the ice and see what it feels like.” But there was no plan to return to competition at that point. Liu only wanted to try skating again!

Soon after the trip, Alysa Liu visited a rink for a casual session. During that first skate, she tried a double Axel and landed it, something that surprised her since she had been away from the sport for so long. “That first session, I tried the double Axel, and I could do it. I was like, ‘Oh,’” Liu recalled. This was the time she knew that she had not lost the emotion she had toward skating altogether.

Several weeks after that, she was on the rink again. Then she returned another time. Slowly, the rink stopped feeling like a place connected to pressure and expectations. It turned into an art form and self-expression this time. Eventually, she decided to see where it could lead. On February 21, 2024, Liu picked up the phone and called her former coach, Phillip DiGuglielmo.

“I just want lessons. Let’s see where this takes us,” Alysa Liu told him. However, her coach declined and advised her not to resume competition, since there were good reasons to take it slow, after such a long absence from sport.

The two-hour call that changed Alysa Liu’s comeback story

In February 2024, when Alysa Liu made a phone call to her former coach, Phillip DiGuglielmo, and mentioned that she was considering going back to competitive skating. His initial response was to convince her against it, considering that it is difficult to resume figure skating after a two-year hiatus.

DiGuglielmo was also aware that several skaters who had attempted similar comebacks had failed. Liu had already competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics and won bronze at the 2022 World Figure Skating Championships. From his point of view, she had already achieved a lot.

At one point, he even told her directly, “Please don’t.’ I really did. I said, ‘Please don’t. Respect your legacy as an Olympic bronze medalist.” But Liu was determined.

“He said no, and then I had to convince him,” Alysa Liu later recalled. “ He was like, “Before, you didn’t like doing this, or this. What about now?” I’m like, “Well, I’m just not going to do that. I want to pick my own music.  I had music ideas, dress ideas that I wanted to put out into the world.”

The two ended up talking for nearly two hours. During that call, DiGuglielmo listed every reason the comeback might fail. Liu responded to each one. When he pointed out that she would be older and training would be tougher, she reminded him she would still be only 21 by the next Olympics. When he questioned whether she could return to world level, she told him she believed she could.

Eventually, the coach realized Alysa Liu was serious. This time, she wanted to skate on her own terms, with more control over her programs, music, and training approach. So, DiGuglielmo agreed to collaborate with her again when he saw her determination.

Then, Liu posted a video on March 1, 2024, on Instagram saying that she was going “back to the ice” during the next season. However, what came next was a surprise for a few people who had not expected it from a retired skater.

In 2024, Alysa returned to the competition at the Budapest Trophy and became a gold medalist. The next year, she took the gold in the world figure skating championships held in Boston, becoming the first American woman since 2006 to do so.

The most significant event came at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Alysa Liu not only assisted Team USA in securing the gold in the team event, but she also won the women’s Olympic gold medal in the singles event in what was initially thought to be an unattainable comeback.