Alysa Liu won gold in the women’s skating final at the 2026 Winter Olympics in February in Milan, Italy, ending a 24-year Olympic drought for U.S. women
It was her big comeback, two years after unretiring from the sport because a day skiing made her realize how much she missed skating
Fresh off winning at the Milan Games, Liu tells PEOPLE what sport she wants to try next

Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu is looking forward to trying a new sport in her spare time.

“I heard that surfing was really similar to skating and skiing,” Liu tells PEOPLE. “In the way that we glide. There’s not many activities in life where you feel the glide, and I recently heard surfing was one of them. So I really want to try that out.”

Liu recently returned home to California from Milan, where she won gold in women’s singles figure skating and the team event at the Winter Olympics. Her win marked the first women’s figure skating gold medal for the U.S. since Sarah Hughes in 2002. Liu’s path to those titles and her carefree attitude has drawn admiration and earned her millions of social media followers.

USA's Alysa Liu competes in the figure skating women's single free skating final during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan on February 19, 2026.

Alysa Liu competes at the 2026 Winter Olympics.Antonin THUILLIER / AFP via Getty

After competing at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, she retired at age 16 due to burnout. Liu began skating at age 5 and her childhood revolved around the sport.

“I really had nothing going on with my life, you know? Just training,” Liu, now 20, told The Associated Press in January, reflecting on what led her to step away from the sport.

Her announcement came as a shock, since she was considered a rising star in the skating world.