"I don't know. I don't care. Dad is happy, but that means nothing to me," Liu told Rolling Stone magazine in early 3/2026. "I was even almost angry when he was happy, like: 'How dare you be so happy?'"

Alysa Liu's performance at the figure skating gala closing the Winter Olympics on the ice rink in Milano, Italy on the evening of 21/2. Photo: AP

The 20-year-old athlete explained that this emotion stemmed from a tense past between her and her father. Her father, Arthur Liu, had opposed her decision to retire after the Beijing 2022 Olympics. Therefore, when she returned to skating, his joy felt unwarranted to her.

"I thought that dad doesn't deserve to be happy about this decision. Because he was angry when I quit," Liu said. "I don't want him to be angry when I come back, but I also don't want him to care that much. He shouldn't have any opinion at all." Liu's candid remarks revealed the complex relationship between her and her father, who had a significant influence on her skating career from a young age.

Arthur Liu, a lawyer of Chinese origin, moved to the United States. He settled in the San Francisco Bay Area and later decided to have 5 children through surrogacy with anonymous egg donation. Alysa is the eldest, followed by Selina, and triplets Julia, Joshua, and Justin. Having a large family made Liu's childhood quite unique. Her father worked while caring for 5 children, with the support of her paternal grandmother Shu for many years. However, figure skating was Arthur Liu's greatest passion, and he soon guided his daughter onto this path.

He spent from 500,000 to 1 million USD to invest in his daughter's training, from hiring coaches and practice rinks to competition trips. This significant investment helped Alysa become a figure skating prodigy, once the youngest US national champion in history. However, the intensity and accompanying pressure also led Alysa Liu to early burnout. She admitted that Mr. Liu interfered too deeply in the training process, even once disguising himself to secretly observe how coaches taught his daughter and taking notes.

Mr. Arthur Liu watches his daughter Alysa perform at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Photo: Imagn Images

After the Beijing 2022 Olympics, Alysa surprised many by announcing her retirement at just 16 years old. She stated that this decision was kept secret from most people. "I didn't tell anyone, because I knew someone would try to keep me," Alysa recalled. "When I posted it on Instagram, that's when everyone found out, and many people were very angry."

During her time away from skating, Alysa tried to experience the normal life of a teenager. But a few years later, she decided to return, with one crucial condition: her career must be under her own control. When asked if she would fire her father from her support team, Alysa replied directly: "No need to fire him. He was never on the team to begin with."

That change was seen as a turning point. Alysa trained and competed with less family pressure, ultimately making an impressive comeback in Winter Olympic history. At the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics, she won two gold medals, including the women's singles title, an achievement US figure skating had awaited since 2002. Nevertheless, Alysa maintains a certain distance in her relationship with her father. She still hugged him after winning gold, but felt more comfortable with Mr. Liu simply sitting in the stands, rather than directly participating in the competition process.

At 20 years old, Liu believes that boundary is necessary for her to continue pursuing a long-term career. "This time, I have to be the one in control," she said. "That's the only way I can continue skating."

Hoang An (according to Parade)