Figure skating icon Alysa Liu was given a very warm welcome when she jetted back to California after winning two gold medals at the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics—becoming the first American woman to claim victory in the individual event since 2002.
The 20-year-old brought home the gold after pulling off a series of remarkable routines in Italy, a feat that has turned her into a veritable hero in the Golden State, where her hometown arranged a host of celebrations to mark her return from Milan.
Liu, who initially retired from figure skating at the tender age of 16 following an appearance at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, touched down in San Francisco on Feb. 23, when the crew of her Delta flight kick-started the celebrations with a golden tribute befitting a champion of her caliber.
A viral clip shared on TikTok showed the Clovis, CA, native, who was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, walking up the jet bridge to discover gold balloons and tinsel curtains around the doorway to the terminal.
Just before the skating princess stepped off the plane, a Delta employee gushed, “Alysa, your hard work, brilliance, and passion have made all of us incredibly proud.”
In another video, Liu’s friends revealed they drove to San Francisco to pick up their pal, who filled both of her friends’ cars with her bags.
They captioned the clip, “Rare aesthetic: Your friend wins the Olympics and brings the entire village back home with her.”
On her first night back, Liu dined at Italian restaurant Trabocco, according to a Facebook post from the restaurant.
Owner and chef Giuseppe Naccarelli shared images of the skater alongside a tiramisu that had “Congratulations” written on it with chocolate.
Local ice cream shop Fentons Creamery has also offered the athlete “ice cream for life” and sundaes on “standby.”
Throughout the town, there are also numerous billboards of Liu.
The city also revealed that it would be honoring Liu with a “community-wide celebration.”
Liu was considered a strong contender during the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, in which she finished seventh overall, which was the highest placement among U.S. women.
The star athlete had moved to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado to focus on honing her skills—an experience she branded incredibly “lonely.”
However, after her magical performance, she shocked fans when she revealed she was trading her ice skates for a normal teenage life with her friends, followed by her enrollment at UCLA, where she is still a student.
In 2022, she revealed her retirement in an Instagram post: “I started skating when I was 5 so that’s about 11 years on the ice and it’s been an insane 11 years,” she penned.
She noted that her ultimate goal was competing at the Olympics, which she achieved.
“I made the decision for myself a while ago, way before the Olympics. My only goal was to go to the Olympics. I’m only 16. I want to do other stuff,” she said before admitting that her decision was “selfish” and made “purely for myself.”
She later told Cosmopolitan that she wanted to be closer to her friends, recalling the nights she spent alone, wishing she had company.
“There was nothing more I wanted than to just be with my friends and my family, and skating had nothing to do with that at that point,” said Liu, who had been homeschooled up until that point.
She also wanted to experience public school, she noted.
“I would live at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado, in a dorm by myself. I would eat their food. I went to the rink, skated, ate lunch there, skated some more. Went back to the dorm. I didn’t go anywhere. I didn’t see anything. I was just there. And so all that, I was like, ‘Skating is not worth it.’ Like, this is not worth it,” she told the Associated Press.
After two years at UCLA, Liu revealed she was coming out of retirement, confessing that skiing helped her remember her love for the sport.
“I hadn’t felt that adrenaline rush, I guess, since I’d quit skating. It feels so similar to skiing. And so after I skied, I was like, ‘Wait, let me get on the ice and see what it feels like,’” she said.
When she got back on the rink and was able to complete every move perfectly, she decided to make her official comeback to the sport.
She told Cosmopolitan that ice skating “gave me something to be strong for,” adding that she has fallen back in love with every aspect of the sport.
“Now, I love skating dresses and helping with the design process. The sport is kind of an outlet for me. I love dance and music, so it’s everything in one,” she gushed.
“I wanted to pick my own music, help design my own costumes, ‘cause I developed my own taste and my own style. This is my sport, my program. Why wouldn’t I want to be wearing what I want to wear?” she told The Players’ Tribune.
Now that she had gotten back on the ice, Liu confessed that she couldn’t imagine leaving again.
“So many people ask me if I am going to retire after this year, and I really thought about their question. I cannot imagine not skating in a year. I can’t imagine next year being off the ice,” the athlete told Cosmopolitan.
