Team USA figure skater Alysa Liu has become one of the breakout stars of the 2026 Winter Olympics, not only for her performance on the ice but also for her rise on social media.
Liu captured two gold medals at the Winter Games. One in the team event and one in the individual women’s singles, marking the first individual Olympic gold for an American woman in figure skating since 2002. Her victories have turned her into a global sensation, attracting fans from around the world.
Following her wins, Liu’s Instagram following surged from under 300,000 before the Olympics to more than 5 million, surpassing fellow California-born Chinese-American Olympian Eileen Gu, who competes for Team China and has approximately 3.7 million followers. Fox News reported the scale of the increase, noting it as one of the fastest social media growth spurts in the Games this year.
Even Gu joined in celebrating Liu’s success, commenting “YESSSSSS” on one of Liu’s posts.
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Oakland prepares to honor hometown hero
Liu, who grew up in Richmond and trained at Oakland Ice Center, has also inspired her local community. The City of Oakland announced plans for a public celebration to honor her accomplishments.
“Alysa represents the heart, grit, resilience, and joy of Oakland. Her achievement has filled our city with pride, and we are coordinating with her team now to finalize a date so the community can celebrate her together,” city officials said.
Young skaters are drawing inspiration from Liu’s journey. Local athlete Giada Lee told CBS News, “She comes from Oakland Ice, so it proves that anybody from here can also go to the Olympics and compete.”
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Both Liu and Gu are children of Chinese immigrants raised in the Bay Area. While Gu chose to compete for China starting in 2019, Liu and her family remained loyal to Team USA.
Liu described the experience as “a little bit freaky and exciting,” recalling how her father’s past activism shaped her understanding of the attention they faced.