Liu began skating when she was five years old and started competing at 12. She is the youngest U.S. national champion of figure skating ever, since she won the title in 2019 at the age of 13. She is also the first U.S. female skater to land a quadruple jump at a competition. In 2020, she won the same title again and later claimed bronze at the World Junior Championships. In 2022, Liu competed at the Beijing Olympics and secured bronze for Team USA and finished 6th in Women’s singles. Finally, she got bronze at the World Championships in Montpellier, France, according to figureskating.org.
Liu retired back in 2022 at the age of 16 years old because of burnout, pressure, her loss of passion for ice skating and wanting to continue to pursue her education. She felt as if everything was moving too quickly and wanted to take some time to figure out who she was outside of the rink. Since she had already accomplished her main goals of competing at the Olympics and winning at the World Figure Skating Championships, she decided to retire, according to nbcolympics.com.
In 2024, Liu decided to go on a skiing trip with her friends where she ended up visiting an ice skating rink. During her time on the ice, she realized just how much she missed skating and the competitive side of it. In October 2024, she took the chance to compete in the 2024 CS Budapest Trophy, beginning her comeback, according to si.com.
“I think that everything, even [the first part of] my skating career and the time I spent away from the sport and coming back. Everything has led to this; has led that performance,” Liu said in an interview with olympics.com.
At the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games this year, Liu won two gold medals and a bronze. For her short program to “Promise” by Laufey, she scored a 76.59 and placed third. She ended up winning the women’s singles figure skating title for gold, making this the first time an American woman has won the title since 2002. She also earned a score of 226.79 on her freeskating, according to nbcnewyork.com.
Later at the Exhibition Gala, Liu performed a routine to “Stateside” by PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson, according to nbcnewyork.com.
“I mean, it was just bliss. I was so happy to be there. I felt like I was floating and I felt the crowd carried me. I did everything I wanted to do in the program,” Liu said in an interview with olympics.com.
