Richmond figure skater competes at 2022 Winter Olympics

Alysa Liu is only athlete from Contra Costa County to compete in this year’s games

2020 World Junior Championships, bronze (individual); 2019 Junior Grand Prix Final, silver (individual)

“The Simon Biles of Figure Skating”

By Allen D. Payton

Two-time U.S. Champion figure skater Alysa Liu of Richmond, California is competing in her first Olympics in women’s singles at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, this month. She is one of four athletes from the Bay Area, there, including Karen Chen of Fremont, also competing on the Women’s Figure Skating team, Nina OBrien of San Fransico competing in Alpine Skiing, and Vicent Zhou of Palo Alto competing in Men’s Singles Figure Skating. But Liu is the only athlete from Contra Costa County to participate in this year’s Olympic Games.

The 5-foot, 2-inch 16-year-old was born on August 8, 2005 in Clovis, CA and began skating at age 5. She now trains in Colorado Springs with Christy Krall, Drew Meekins and Viktor Pfeifer, and represents the St. Moritz Ice Skating Club in Oakland, joining their list of champions which includes Kristi Yamaguchi and Rudy Galindo. Her new coaches as of November include Christy Krall, Drew Meekins, Viktor Pfeifer, Eddie Shipstad, and Philip DiGuglielmo. Liu was previously coached by Laura Lipetsky, Massimo Scali and Jeremy Abbott at the Oakland Ice Center.

According to her own website, “at the age of 13, Alysa became the youngest lady to win the U.S. Championships. She also became the youngest female skater to land a triple Axel at the U.S. Championships and the third woman to do so at the event. In August 2019, she became the first U.S. lady to land a quadruple jump (quad Lutz) in competition. In January 2020, she won her second U.S. title. Two months later, she competed in her first World Junior Championships and won the bronze medal. In 2021, she won the pewter medal at the 2021 U.S. Championships.

In the fall of 2021, Liu made her senior international debut and won the ISU Challenger event’s Lombardia Trophy and Nebelhorn Trophy, which the later event served as an Olympic qualifying event. With her win, the U.S. women gained the third spot for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Liu also debuted on the senior Grand Prix circuit, finishing 4th and 5th.

In January 2022, Liu was named to the 2022 Olympic team despite being unable to compete in free skate at the U.S. Championships due to a positive COVID-19 test.

She’s been competing in skating competitions for the past six years and also taking first place in 2016 at the U.S. Championships, Intermediate and Pacific Coast Sectional, Intermediate. Liu also placed second at the 2016 Central Pacific Regional, Intermediate competition.

Liu has been referred to as the “Simon Biles of Figure Skating” according to a January 20, 2022 report by the Today Show. She has been the subject of over 40 news articles, including by Forbes, NBC Sports, People, Time, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and the December 2019 cover of International Figure Skating magazine.

According to a Jan. 31, 2022 USA Today report, she “successfully petitioned her way onto the Olympic team after a strong first season on the senior international circuit”…and “probably has the best chance of any U.S. women of sneaking onto the podium, which the Russians are expected to sweep.” See video interview of Alysa.

According to an Oct. 28, 2021 article by People, “she attended ‘online school all of high school because my training schedule was just too hard to deal with regular school. So I did online school and I graduated high school in June.”

Four Siblings, Including Triplets

According to her profile on the Team USA website, Liu has a younger sister named Selina (age 14), and triplet siblings named Julia, Joshua and Justin (age 12). Liu is an active member of the Youth Court in Oakland, California, helping underage children with a criminal record. She has two cats named Kathie and Cranberry and enjoys watching movies, going to the beach and dancing. When she’s not skating, Alysa also enjoys reading, crafts, watching YouTube, playing video games, going to the park, riding her bike and playing tag with her younger siblings.

According to a Feb. 5, 2022, San Francisco Chronicle report, “Oakland immigration attorney Arthur Liu, fathered Alysa and her four siblings…through surrogate mothers.” After Alysa was born, her grandmother came to live with them and helped him raise her and her siblings until 1996 when she returned to China.

According to Antioch City Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock, Liu’s mother lives in Antioch, and the councilwoman met both Liu and her mother at her mother’s Antioch home, thanks to the connection made by Contra Costa Community College District Governing Board Trustee Andy Li, who introduced them. Ogorchock took photos with Liu, as well.

Liu is sponsored by Edea Skates, John Wilson Blades – makers of figure skating blades since 1696, and Toyota. Alysa makes a brief appearance in an Olympic-themed Toyota TV commercial which debuted on Friday, Feb. 4.

For more photos of Liu see her page on the US Figure Skating Fanzone website.