Olympic figure skating champion Alysa Liu announced on August 26, 2025, that she will sit out the 2026-27 figure skating season to focus on refining her technique and artistic expression. The 21-year-old athlete, who won gold at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, stated in an Instagram post that she aims to evolve her skating to reflect personal growth. Liu emphasized that her break is temporary, writing, 'So fear not, I’ll be back.'
Liu’s announcement follows a career marked by early retirement, a comeback, and a gold medal at the 2025 World Championships. She became the first American woman to win Olympic gold in singles figure skating since 2002, completing a comeback after retiring at age 16 in 2022. Her return to competition in 2024 included a new artistic direction, featuring a halo hairstyle and a frenulum piercing.
The break is framed as an intentional step to recalibrate her approach to the sport. In an interview with NBC Sports, Liu described her plans to work on 'overall artistry, spins, jumps, everything' during the hiatus. She intends to return for the 2027-28 season, trusting her instincts about the timing. 'I just felt this was right,' she said. 'So I'm trusting my instincts.'
Liu’s career trajectory includes multiple phases of competition and withdrawal. She won back-to-back U.S. championships in 2019 and 2020 at ages 13 and 14, then finished seventh at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. After announcing her initial retirement in April 2022, she pursued personal growth, including hiking to Mount Everest base camp and enrolling at UCLA. She returned to skating in 2024, winning the 2025 World Championships before her Olympic triumph.
Her decision to step away now comes as she seeks to align her sport with her evolving identity. Liu has described her journey as one of self-discovery, noting that skating previously consumed her entire life. 'I found what I like and what I didn’t like,' she said earlier in 2025. 'Really got to know myself, because [when] I had skating, I didn’t really know myself.'
Liu’s absence will leave a gap in the U.S. figure skating landscape for the upcoming season. While she is stepping back from competition, she expressed support for her teammates, stating she would 'be rooting for my teammates near & far' during her break.