Alysa Liu, 16-Year-Old Figure Skater on USA Olympic Team and East Bay Resident

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are in full swing. California State University, East Bay excitedly has a tie to one of the Olympians this year.

Alysa Liu is a 16-year-old American figure skater who was born in Clovis, Calif. and resides in Richmond, Calif. Her father, Arthur Liu, emigrated from China in 1989 and graduated from CSUEB in 1992 from the College of Business and Economics..

Arthur is an Oakland attorney who raised all five of his children, including Alysa, the oldest, as a single parent. Since Alysa was a very active child, her father decided to take her to the Oakland Ice Center to try ice skating for the first time at age five.

After realizing how quickly Alysa took to the ice, Arthur signed her up for lessons from former figure skater Laura Lipetsky. That decision would lead to Alysa becoming a first-time Olympian at 16.

Alysa is the youngest athlete on the U.S. team at this year’s Winter Olympics. She is also the youngest ever U.S. women’s national champion, winning her first crown in 2019 at 13. Liu won the U.S. women’s national championship again in 2020, making her the first woman to win back-to-back titles since Ashley Wagner in 2012 and 2013.

She was the first junior American woman to successfully complete a triple Axel in an international competition. Liu won her first international competition at the 2017 Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy in Hong Kong before she turned 12.

Liu’s impressive feats do not stop there; during her first junior international competitive debut in August 2019, Liu became the first junior American woman to land a quadruple jump in competition. She also was the first woman in history to successfully complete a triple axel and a quadruple jump in the same program.

Alysa has appeared on the Today Show and Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show after winning her first U.S. title.

After announcing that she would be joining Team USA for women’s figure skating in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Liu shared her gratitude for her support.

“I’m so excited to be going to my first Olympics! I can’t wait to join my teammates in Beijing! Thanks for all the congratulations,” she shared on her Instagram page.

Liu will perform in the women’s singles with her main events taking place on Feb. 15 and Feb. 16 in the Short Program and Free Skating events, respectively. She is among the top contenders for the gold medal this year.

“It doesn’t matter what happens in the Olympic games, and what she wants to do in her life, in the rest of her life. I’m super proud of her,” said her father, Arthur, who is a CSUEB alumnus.

Tune into the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics to support our East Bay representative and join us in rooting for Alysa Liu as she makes the East Bay proud!