Alysa Liu’s father admits to making ‘mistake’ with her training before Olympic win
While Team USA star Alysa Liu was able to break the country’s 20-year drought in the women’s individual figure skating competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics, it did not come without mistakes along the way.
The figure skater previously competed and finished sixth in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, announcing her retirement from the sport months later at just 16 years old. She then made the decision to return and do things her own way in June 2024, leading to her two Olympic golds at this year’s games; one for the team event and another for the individual competition.
Looking back on his oldest daughter’s career, Alysa’s father, Arthur Liu, spoke to USA Today about one choice he regretted with her training.
“In retrospect, I feel I made a mistake,’’ he said about his oldest daughter, adding that she “started to hate skating and stuff until she quit.’’
He explained to the publication that he regretted having Alysa relocate to Colorado Springs months before the 2022 games instead of staying in her family’s Northern California home.
“I took her to Colorado Springs, and I left her there,’’ Arthur said, noting that he was a single parent to five children while also trying to run his law practice at the time. “During that period of time, I wasn’t there for her.”
He continued: “She was upset, and she missed home. But then I was thinking, when I was 14, I went to boarding school. I survived. I felt like (Alysa) can survive this, too. But not knowing that she hated it. I did not know until she came home.’’
Upon her decision to return to the sport two years later, Arthur respected Alyssa’s wishes to have as much control over her training as possible, which he also enjoyed, knowing that he could dedicate more time to his four younger children. He also made the decision to no longer be her coach.
“She said, ‘I’m coming back. I’m going to do my terms,’” Arthur recalled. “I was like, yes, go ahead and do it your own way. Because I mean, as a father, I love her and I want to support her. But there’s only this much I can do. I’m just one person. I’m very tired by the end of the day.
“Just work and the kids and everything. I just want to relax a little. I don’t have to worry too much about her (now). That’s great. You want me to be hands-off? That’s great. Even though you hurt a little bit to hear that.’’
At this year’s games, Alysa landed in third place after receiving a score of 76.59 in Tuesday’s short program, behind Ami Nakai (78.71) and Kaori Sakamoto (77.23), both from Japan. However, she bumped her way up to the gold after she set a season’s best of 150.20 points — nearly four points clear of her previous best — as she performed Thursday’s free skate to Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park.”
