Milan ¨C Four years after she stepped away from her sport saying she had lost her love for it, American Alysa Liu skated on Thursday night as though she had flicked the light back on in a long-darkened disco, and soared to Olympic women¡¯s gold.
Her joyful program to Donna Summer¡¯s ¡°MacArthur Park¡± ¡ª in a glittering gold dress with her striking brunette and platinum-blonde striped hair ¡ª felt ?much more about fun than perfection.
The reigning world champion started the day in third, but by the time she struck ?her final ?pose, pointing skyward, for a total score of 226.79 points, the gold medal felt almost like ?an afterthought to the grin she wore getting there.
Joy, it seems, is her competitive superpower.
¡°The most important part of my story is human connection,¡± Liu said. ¡°That¡¯s all I want in my life, human connection.
¡°And damn, now I connect with a hella ton of ?people. So that¡¯s my dream, and I am glad that I have my creative ideas, and I can share those as well.
¡°I think ?my story is more important than anything (results or medals), and that¡¯s what I will hold dear. And this journey has been incredible.¡±
Three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto secured silver with 224.90 points, ahead of Japanese teammate Ami Nakai, who ?claimed bronze with 219.16.
Liu returned to skating in ?2024 on her terms.
Her smile has drawn particular attention at the Milano Cortina Games because of her unique new frenulum piercing. She has a curved arrow piercing the tissue connecting the ?underside of her upper lip ?to her gums.
¡°I guess it¡¯s doing stuff that people tell you you shouldn¡¯t do,¡± Liu said. ¡°?I¡¯ve been doing a lot of that. I¡¯m glad that a lot of people are now watching ?so that I ?can show them everything that I¡¯ve come up with in my brain, share my stories.¡±
Asked about her influences, she said ¡°I really had myself, and I think that¡¯s all I needed was myself.¡±
Her transformation happened during the forced isolation of COVID-19.
¡°I got alone time, I got to think a lot and so yeah, it was when COVID hit, that¡¯s ?when I had my first: what to do with myself?¡± she said. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to do, and I¡¯m grateful that I had that moment of realization, a light-bulb moment.
¡°But yeah, a lot happened in four years.¡±
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