Alysa Liu’s Olympic gold story hides painful truth as she recalls crying after every fall in strict childhood training

Alysa Liu’s Olympic gold medal may look like a beautiful dream to many fans. But the American figure skater says the truth behind that success was much harder. Before she stood on the Olympic podium, Alysa Liu went through years of pressure and painful memories that she once tried to forget. At just 20 years old, Liu made history by winning Olympic gold in women’s figure skating and ending a 24-year wait for the United States. Yet while the world celebrated her victory, Liu revealed that the road to that moment was filled with fear, strict training, and emotional struggle.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Alysa Liu spoke openly about the dark period of her childhood training. She said the pressure started when she was still a young teenager, long before people knew her name.

“Probably because [that time in my life] was so bad, I just didn’t want to remember it. Practice was so serious. I would cry after falling on every jump. The team I had around me was so strict. I was in fight-or-flight mode all the time,” Liu told Rolling Stone. Her words showed that behind the medals and applause, there was once a young athlete trying to survive intense expectations.

Alysa Liu was only 13 when she became the youngest U. S. women’s champion in history. She shocked fans by landing three triple Axels and quickly became one of the most exciting skaters in the country. But while her career looked bright from the outside, Liu says the pressure was overwhelming.

“I didn’t enjoy being at the rink from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day, but I skated every day because I was scared that I would lose all my jumps and lose my abilities if I took a day off,” Liu told Rolling Stone.

She also explained how those years felt like a blur. “And [since] every day was the same, I can’t recall certain years or stuff like that. I missed birthdays and holidays, so that also makes the timeline a little bit sketchy for me. There’s no pinpoints.”

Her life was tightly controlled during those years. Even small things, like how much water she drank, were monitored. Later, her father Arthur Liu, who first introduced her to skating at the Oakland Ice Center when she was five, admitted that some decisions were too harsh.

He said he “made a mistake” by sending his teenage daughter to live alone in Colorado Springs at 16 for training. Not long after that, Liu stepped away from the sport. She retired young and wanted to experience normal life again.

For the next two years, Liu stayed away from skating. She studied psychology at UCLA and focused on living like any other college student. Then, in early 2024, something unexpected happened.

During a ski trip with friends, Liu felt a spark again. Her best friend Tseh Newton later spoke about that moment. “I remember it was like our first time skiing, and we were driving and she was like, I’m going to do black diamond today. And like some people say that as a joke, she was dead serious.”

Newton laughed as she remembered the moment. “I was like, we need to take it slow. We’re not going on a black diamond or double black diamond anywhere this morning.” But Liu quickly picked it up. “By the end of the day she probably could have done that diamonds. I mean, she’s just so athletically gifted,” Newton added.

That fun moment on the mountain reminded Liu why she once loved skating. Slowly, the passion came back. Soon after, Liu returned to training. And in an incredible comeback, she climbed all the way to the top again.

Years after walking away from the sport, Alysa Liu stood on the Olympic podium with gold around her neck. For fans, it was a story of victory. For Liu, it was proof that even the hardest journeys can come full circle.