Last week, American figure skater Alysa Liu made history. After a dazzling, electric free skate to "MacArthur Park Suite" by Donna Summer, the 20-year-old won the Olympic gold medal in the ladies' singles event. In doing so, she became the first female American Olympic champion since Sarah Hughes in 2002, and the first American lady to medal since Sasha Cohen in 2006. But for Liu, the hardware was just collateral. She captured everyone's hearts with body language unmatched by any other athlete—and that's the mindset that put her on the podium.
Olympic Figure Skater Goes Massively Viral—and It’s All Because of Her Body Language
Can you spell J-O-Y?
Published Feb 23, 2026
•4:47pm
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Going into the Games, Liu has maintained that this go-round has never been about winning for her, saying "I don't need a medal. I just need to be here and show people what I can do."
Indeed, she was probably the most relaxed skater in the lineup, and the word "joy" was consistently used to describe her and her performances. Commentators noted that she was incredibly relaxed during the free skate. While that helped from a technical standpoint, Liu also roused the audience with her playful sassiness both during and after the program, when she flipped her ponytail. And who can forget the iconic photo of the medal ceremony, where she literally jumps with joy?
In an interview with NBC, a journalist mentioned that Liu had previously called her stint at the Beijing Olympics a "job." Regarding Milan, Liu said, "Definitely not a job. I feel lucky I get to do this and I love being an athlete. It's the coolest thing in the world."
Scott Hamilton, the 1984 Olympic champion, said of Liu: "She's joy. She loves her sport. She simply holds her entire world in the palm of her hand. She showed everybody what can happen on Olympic ice when you simply love what you do."
Liu's Olympic victory caps off an astounding comeback. Following the Beijing Games, the then 16-year-old shocked the skating world by announcing her retirement. During the following two years, she enrolled at UCLA, picked up photography as a hobby and hiked to the Mount Everest base camp.
"Taking a step away from the sport allowed me to understand myself, because I'd never had the time before, the space to figure out who I was," she said in an interview. "Taking a step away allowed me to see the full picture."
So what's next for the doyenne of figure skating? Certainly not a second retirement anytime soon.
"I have no plans to leave yet," she said. "Can't imagine not skating next year."
