Known for her gold medal from the Olympics and iconic “angel halo” hairstyle, Alysa Liu is mesmerizing to watch and truly shows her personality through her art of skating.
With the love and attention she’s gotten, I too enjoy watching her as she takes the ice and see her as a person through interviews. She’s so genuine and truly herself instead of being “media trained” like many celebrities nowadays.
She plans to go to the next Winter Olympics in 2030 and continue skating for herself, and I definitely can’t wait to see what’s to come for her.
In the recent 2026 Winter Olympics, Liu was the first American woman to win an individual figure skating gold medal in 24 years, and she also won the USA team gold medal.
During her skating, she made difficult moves look easy, judges mentioning, “she skates with such freedom” or calling her the “sunshine on the ice” and “carefree Californian” during her routine (referred to as the “short program”).
Graphic Design by Israel Aguilar
For her skating songs, she chose “MacArthur Park Suite” by Donna Summer, “Promise” by Laufey, and “Stateside + Zara Larsson” by Pink Pantheress (read about Zara Larsson here).
Soon after, Spotify’s Instagram posted “The Alysa Liu Effect” explaining how “MacArthur Park Suite” streams went up by 1,290% and “Stateside” went to #3 on Spotify U.S. charts for the first time after her performances. Zara Larsson herself gave a “shout out” to Liu after her concert in Oakland (Liu’s hometown) on her Instagram story.
“I like that it’s not just all tricks, I like that she actually puts some performance in her shows… I think her hair’s really cool,” said Karissa Seng, COMPASS junior.
Liu grew a fanbase during the Olympics, with fans loving her Gen-Z hairstyle and her self-done smiley piercing alongside with her friendly vibe. The 20-year-old’s Instagram went from approximately 200 thousand followers to 7.8 million.
Other than figure skating, fans have even said she looked like “Zigzagoon,” a racoon Pokemon because they share the same white to brown layered hair, Liu found it funny and even signed a few of the Zigzagoon’s pokemon cards for people to purchase on Shopify.
In an interview with USA Today Sports, Liu said, “I would love Fortnite to do a skin on me. I would buy it.” Recently, Liu was interviewed for TeenVogue, Rolling Stone and was briefly shown on The Tonight Show.
Zarina Verceles, COMPASS senior, another skater, said, “She takes a lot of responsibility for her own skating…I felt confined to how I should be figure skating, how I should practice. When it comes to skating, a lot of figure skaters struggle with eating disorders because of their coaches. I think it’s so awesome how she’s taking it upon herself, rejecting it, and doing her own thing and still succeeded.”.
Verceles also mentioned how she’s bringing more people to figure skating, appealing to younger audiences, and of course, showing her identity as a person through her skating and interviews.
Previously in figure skating, there were many negative aspects, like the training of children harshly, or even drugging and starving athletes. Liu retired from skating at age 16 in 2022 after constantly being controlled by her father. Later in 2024, she returned, only this time on her terms.
In an interview with 60 Minutes, Liu herself said, “I get to pick my own program music… If I feel like I’m skating too much, I’ll back down. If I feel like I’m not skating enough, I’ll ramp it up. No one’s going to starve me. Tell me what I can and can’t eat.”
Laurie Newport • Mar 31, 2026 at 6:29 pm
The first time I heard of Alysa Liu was when I was on social media. I heard of her win for the U.S. and I was inspired to learn more about ice skating. With further research, I learned that she was also Asian American like me. She uses her music to strengthen her performances and I find that really inspiring. Her story of her reemergence into the public eye serves as a good lesson for how growth can happen through self care.
I appreciate how you talked about her performance with Laufey’s song, ‘Promise’ as I happen to be a big fan of Laufey’s music. Alysa’s portrayal of mainstream media in her performance shows how the use of different media can be incorporated into public spaces. It also shows how alternative expressions have slowly come more standardized, how conventionality has been challenged over the years. It is nice to see this change happen in real time.
Nina • Mar 31, 2026 at 1:03 pm
I really enjoyed reading this article, and I agree with a lot of what was said about Alysa Liu and her talent for skating. I think the personal comments in the beginning with what Rhyan thought watching Alysa skate was very insightful to how many others view her as well, including myself. I also watched her skating performance, and I agree with the quote that she is “sunshine on ice”, as she can be seen smiling the entire time while she skates. Additionally, I’m glad that her hair, in its “angel halo” style, was mentioned within this article. It is a truly “iconic” and unique style.
Also, I appreciated that Rhyan included multiple quotes from Millikan students, a junior and a senior. The personal experience added by the senior gave a useful perspective and look into the figure skating industry that many people might not know. I felt it helped to make the article more emotional. The junior added commentary that I feel was reflective of what a lot of Gen Z thought of Alysa Liu.
Dallas • Mar 31, 2026 at 10:49 am
Honestly, I’m so grateful that you wrote this article to bring attention to Alysa Liu because I have seen her so much on my FYP recently, and I think she’s extremely talented. Not only is her hairstyle and overall appearance very iconic, but also her style and attitude towards her sport. As a male teenager, I would have never thought to find myself mesmerized by ice skating, but after seeing Alysa Liy’s performance to “Stateside” by Pink Pantheress, I can say I see the appeal in Ice skating. Pinkpantheress is one of my top 5 musicians, and to see her music being played at the Olympic level was absolutely amazing, especially when it matched the performance so well. I previously knew from online that she quit skating before because she had issues, but I never knew it was because of a controlling father, so thank you very much for including that in your article. Overall, I’m extremely appreciative of you writing an article about such a trending person, especially because she’s literally been on my FYP so much, and I find her extremely interesting.
Angel • Mar 31, 2026 at 9:13 am
On March 24 , 2026, Rhyan Keffer wrote an article titled “Angel on Ice: Alysa Liu”. This article was really interesting to me because the introduction of it had made it really attention grabbing. I also really liked how the author mentions Alysa Lius and what music she enjoys listening to while ice skating. To add on, the author also incorporates ideas of student’s and impies their input on Alysa Liu. It’s also written really well and very attention grabbing
However there couldve been more information about Alysa Liu and the moments of how she felt and just overall a deeper meaning of the moment of her winning her olympic gold. Furthermore, I enjoyed reading about her fanbase and as well as her music taste in the article because it adds more diversity in the article.
Lastly, the incorporation of the interviews was really good and interesting. This article is also really good at being interesting towards the audience. This article was overall really well written and also very good to read. Hopefully the transitions could be a better but overall excellent article.
Harper Young • Mar 31, 2026 at 9:11 am
Keffer utilizes plenty of quotes from various sources, including ice skating judges, USA Today Sports, and multiple students from Millikan High School. This adds to her credibility as an author and builds trust with her audience. On top of this, Keffer also uses data in order to demonstrate the impact that Alysa Liu has had as a skater. For example, Keffer states that “Liu was the first American woman to win an individual figure skating gold medal in 24 years”. Overall, the amount of evidence that Keffer uses is significant.
I love that Keffer really captures the essence of Alysa Liu. When reading this article, one can tell that Keffer has done her research. She not only mentions Liu’s accomplishments, but she also introduces her setbacks. Furthermore, Keffer highlights Liu’s incredible personality. Alysa Liu is unique in her own way and she’s not afraid to show it, even in the world of figure skating.
Emily Gonzalez • Mar 30, 2026 at 1:36 pm
Keffer did an incredible job describing figure skater Alysa Liu’s personality and style by recognizing her “angel halo” hairstyles, her self done piercing, and her music choice. She includes quotes from skating figure judges that portray her figure skating style as “sunshine on ice” and “carefree Californian”. I appreciate how she incorporates multiple perspectives from students, judges, and Liu herself to demonstrate her influence on a wide range of audiences.
I was fascinated and intrigued when reading Liu’s comeback story in the sport of ice figure skating. Keffer provides details on Liu’s figure skating career that help explain her decision to make her own rules in life. Keffer did well in describing Liu’s mindset and perseverance by including a quote from Liu that highlights her independent attitude and free spirit. This quote reveals her self-value as she learned to recognize her limitations.
Lillian Kotlarski • Mar 30, 2026 at 1:15 pm
Keffer describes the 2026 Olympic figure skating gold medalist’s recent rise on the internet as due to her unwavering personality and sureness in herself. Almost everyone has heard of Alysa Liu following this past Winter Olympics but Keffer establishes her as a representative of Gen Z with her carefree attitude, Gen Z humor, and halo hair. I had no idea of just how big her impact was on the internet, that even the songs in her skating program began trending again. Keffer then unpacks the impact Liu has had on sports. Her mentality that she is skating on her own terms and to have fun has challenged negative mentalities many other young athletes have faced. For instance, many young athletes are told to have a lock in and grind mentality that focuses on eliminating all mistakes, but Liu changes this by suggesting that you really can’t beat someone that is having fun. I wish this article also touched on Liu’s wonderful sportsmanship towards other athletes at the Olympics, yet even without that detail she still serves as a great athlete for young competitors to look up to. It was great to hear about this outgoing inspirational star!
Avery Paul • Mar 30, 2026 at 1:12 pm
Dear Corydon Editor,
On March 24, 2024, Rhyan Keffer wrote an article titled “Angel on Ice: Alysa Liu,” which chronicles the skater’s journey through the Olympics and into the aftermath of her gold medal wins. The lesson we all learned through her performances and personal experiences is that “doing it your way” can make something even more fulfilling, which the author does well to explain. Following the Olympics, Liu shot to stardom, which Keffer explains with statistics, including her Instagram follower count, and her short/free programs’ music Spotify stream count. Interviewing COMPASS Junior, Karissa Seng, who said, “I think her hair’s really cool”, reveals the appeal to Gen Z that Liu has, through not only her style and self-expression, but through her rebellious and free-spirited attitude. In a sport rocked by scandals (2022, etc.), and dominated by terrified, often injured or ill teenagers, Liu is a refreshing difference. Zarina Verceles, a skater herself, was interviewed by the author, and she said, “a lot of figure skaters struggle with eating disorders because of their coaches.” Controlling coaches evidently can cause harm to their athletes. The difference with Alysa Liu is that she came out of retirement on her own terms, so her success was a metric of the terms she put on herself, rather than those of a coach. This somewhat novel approach led her to Olympic gold in the team event and in ladies’ singles. One suggestion I have would be to compare her situation before retirement, leading up to Beijing, and post comeback, leading up to Worlds and Olympics. Overall, Keffer’s article is well-rounded, explaining different aspects of Liu as a skater and as a person, and her impact on and off the ice.
Adrina Vieville • Mar 30, 2026 at 11:00 am
March 30, 2026
Dear Corydon Editor,
This article thoroughly explained the recent uproar and excitement for Alysa Liu. Her newfound fame is definitely deserved. She has definitely become an inspiration to many as of recently, and it is so deserved. Keffer easily breaks down what it is that the people like about Alysa Liu. The comparison from who she used to be (very controlled by her father, training-wise and eating-wise) compared to who she is now (does everything on her own terms and is really enjoying herself) is both very motivating and really interesting to read. As well as the list of her favorite things and funny tidbits from different interviews, articles, and even her Instagram, kept me enthralled the entire time.
Sincerely,
Adrina Vieville
Gabriela Bonilla • Mar 30, 2026 at 10:49 am
This article does such a great job capturing why Alysa Liu is so special, not just as an athlete, but as a person. I really like how the author didn’t just focus on her achievements and medals, but also her personality, independence, and the way she’s reshaping what it means to be a figure skater. The details about her choosing her own music and training on her own terms make her story feel powerful, especially in a sport that’s often been so controlling. The inclusion of how her performances impacted music streams, like songs from Donna Summer and Laufey, was really interesting and something I didn’t know about before. I like how that showed how far her influence reaches beyond skating. I also liked how the added student quotes made the article feel more real and relatable. Overall, I felt like I learned a lot about Alysa Liu from this article and am excited to see her perform in the future.