Alysa Liu: Sexuality, Pronouns & Biography

Quick answer: Alysa Liu is an American figure skater born on August 8, 2005, in Richmond, California. She previously used she/they pronouns and had pro-LGBTQ+ posts on social media, which she later removed. Her current pronouns are she/her. No formal public statement about her sexual orientation has ever been confirmed. At the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, Liu became the first U.S. woman to win two gold medals at a single Games.

Quick Facts

Full Name	Alysa Liu
Age	19 (as of 2025)
Date of Birth	August 8, 2005
Birthplace	Richmond, California, USA
Nationality	American
Occupation	Professional Figure Skater
Known For	2026 Olympic Champion (singles & team event); youngest U.S. women’s champion; first U.S. woman to land a quad jump
Pronouns	She/her (per U.S. Figure Skating roster, 2024–25 and 2025–26 seasons)
Current Status	Active competitor; attends UCLA

Who Is Alysa Liu?

Few athletes have packed as much into a single decade of competition as Alysa Liu. She became a national champion at 13, broke records that had stood for generations, retired at 16, came back at 18, and then stood atop the Olympic podium twice in one Games. All before her 21st birthday.

Liu’s story is one of extraordinary talent shaped by an equally extraordinary life. Raised in the Bay Area by her father Arthur Liu, an attorney who emigrated from China, she grew up the oldest of five siblings—all born via surrogate mothers and anonymous egg donors—in a household defined by ambition and close family bonds. Away from the rink, she’s a UCLA student with a black cat named Sesame and an online presence that has, at times, generated as many questions as her skating.

Among those questions: her sexuality and evolving public identity. Searches for “Alysa Liu sexuality” and her pronoun history have climbed steadily since her Olympic triumph in 2026. This article addresses both—carefully, and only with what has been publicly confirmed.

Growing Up in Richmond: Family and Early Life

Arthur Liu moved from China to the United States and built a career as an attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area. He raised his family in Richmond, California, a city more often associated with its industrial waterfront than with Olympic figure skaters. Alysa is the eldest of five children in the Liu household, a distinction that shaped her early sense of responsibility and leadership—qualities that coaches would later identify as central to her competitive character.

She began skating young, drawn to the sport with a seriousness that surprised even those closest to her. Richmond is not a traditional hotbed for elite figure skating, yet Arthur Liu found the resources and connections to support her development. By the time Alysa was a preteen, it was clear she was not an ordinary youth skater. She was a phenomenon.

Today, Liu balances her competitive career with studies at UCLA, a reminder that even at the top of her sport, she is still, in many ways, a young woman building her life beyond the ice.

A Prodigy on Ice: Career Rise and Records

The records came fast. At the 2019 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Alysa Liu became the youngest U.S. women’s national champion in history—at just 13 years old. That same competition marked another milestone: she landed a quad Lutz, becoming the first U.S. woman ever to complete a quadruple jump in competition. Both achievements were verified and documented by U.S. Figure Skating.

These weren’t flukes. Liu’s technical foundation was built on fearlessness—a quality that defined her free skates even when the artistic elements were still catching up with her athleticism. Coaches Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali have been central to her development, guiding her through both the heights of early success and the turbulence of what came next.

What came next was a retirement that shocked the figure skating world.

The Retirement and Comeback Story

In 2022, at just 16 years old, Liu stepped away from competitive skating. She offered limited public explanation at the time, and speculation ran wide. By then she had already accumulated more accolades than most skaters earn in a full career, and the pressures of elite sport on a teenager were real.

The break lasted two years. In 2024, Liu announced her return to competition—and the skating world paid attention. What followed was a run of results that silenced any doubts about whether she still had it. In 2025, she claimed the Grand Prix Final title and then the World Championship, making her one of the most decorated active skaters on the planet heading into an Olympic year.

The comeback wasn’t just physical. It reflected a maturity that Liu herself acknowledged—a clearer sense of who she was, what she wanted from the sport, and how to channel the pressure that had once contributed to her stepping away.

Alysa Liu’s Pronouns and LGBTQ+ History

This section addresses one of the most-searched topics around Liu’s personal life, and it deserves careful, factual handling.

What is confirmed: During the 2021–22 season, U.S. Figure Skating’s official roster listed Alysa Liu with she/they pronouns. Around the same period, her social media accounts featured pro-LGBTQ+ posts and pronoun references consistent with that listing. She subsequently removed those posts. When asked about the change, Liu addressed it publicly with a direct statement: “I was a kid, I don’t believe in that stuff anymore.”

Per U.S. Figure Skating’s official rosters for the 2024–25 and 2025–26 seasons, Liu’s pronouns are listed as she/her.

What is not confirmed: Alysa Liu has never made a formal public statement about her sexual orientation. No verified interview, press release, or official statement from Liu or her team has addressed the question of whether she identifies as LGBTQ+. Reporting on “Alysa Liu sexuality” that goes beyond these verified facts ventures into speculation—and speculation is not journalism.

It’s worth noting the broader context: Liu was a teenager when her pronoun usage attracted public attention. Young people exploring identity—whether or not they later revise or articulate it differently—are not doing anything that demands public explanation. Liu’s own statement reflects her current position on the matter, and that position deserves the same respect any public figure’s self-identification receives.

Readers seeking clarity on this topic will find exactly what is available: a documented pronoun history, a public quote from Liu about removing her posts, and no confirmed statements about her sexual orientation.

2026 Olympic Champion: Milan Cortina

The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics delivered the defining chapter of Alysa Liu’s career—and a moment for the history books.

Liu won gold in both the individual singles event and the team event, becoming the first U.S. woman to claim two gold medals at a single Olympic Games. The achievement placed her in a category of American Olympic sporting legends, her name appearing alongside athletes who had previously seemed unreachable from the vantage point of a skating rink in Richmond, California.

The performances themselves were technically stunning. Liu’s programs combined the quad-heavy technical arsenal that had always set her apart with a refined artistry that spoke to her growth as a performer. NBC Olympics’ coverage of her free skate drew massive viewership, and the moment she received her scores became one of the broadcast’s most-watched clips.

For the figure skating community, it was a vindication—of Liu’s talent, of her coaches’ patience during the comeback years, and of her own decision to return to the sport she had briefly walked away from.

Career Timeline

• 2019 — Wins U.S. Championships at age 13; becomes youngest U.S. women’s champion in history (per U.S. Figure Skating). Lands first quad jump by a U.S. woman (quad Lutz) at the same competition.
• 2021–22 — Listed with she/they pronouns on U.S. Figure Skating’s official roster.
• 2022 — Retires from competitive skating at age 16.
• 2024 — Announces return to competition.
• 2024–25 — Listed with she/her pronouns on U.S. Figure Skating’s official roster.
• 2025 — Wins Grand Prix Final; wins World Championship.
• 2025–26 — Listed with she/her pronouns on U.S. Figure Skating’s official roster.
• 2026 — Wins gold in singles and team event at Milan Cortina Winter Olympics; becomes first U.S. woman to win two golds at a single Olympic Games.

Personal Life Today

Beyond the competitive schedule and the media attention that now follows her wherever she skates, Alysa Liu is, by most accounts, a relatively grounded 19-year-old. She attends UCLA, navigating the dual demands of elite sport and university life with a schedule that would exhaust most people. Her black cat, Sesame, has made occasional appearances on social media, earning a quietly devoted following of its own.

Liu’s coaching team—Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali—remains in place, a continuity that speaks to the working relationships built during her comeback years. Her father Arthur continues to be a presence in her corner, a constant in a career defined by anything but constants.

As for what comes next: Liu has given no indication of slowing down. At 19, she is already a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a world champion, and a national record holder. The question of what her legacy will ultimately look like remains open—which, given her trajectory, is probably the most exciting thing about it.

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