Alysa Liu Is Back, and the Bay Area Is Ready to Party

Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu’s highly-anticipated homecoming is finally here, and the Town is ready to party.

Thousands flooded sunny downtown Oakland for a sold-out rally Thursday. The event was emceed by local radio personality Sway Calloway, and featured performances from the Fremont High School drumline, speeches from local athletes like Steph Curry and a rendition of Liu’s free skate song, MacArthur Park, by a student from Liu’s alma mater, Oakland School of the Arts.

Fans erupted in cheers when Liu took the stage just after noon, and Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee presented the figure skater with an oversized key to the city.

“I could not be more proud to represent Oakland,” Liu told the crowd.

“This is for y’all,” she said, holding up her gold medal.

Liu has been revered by Bay Area skaters for years, but shot to global fame during the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, where she scored two gold medals, and won the U.S. its first in individual women’s figure skating since 2002.

In addition to her clean triple jumps, Liu captivated fans with her bubbly, relaxed demeanor, both on and off the ice.

“I hope I can be like her, have her overflow smiling, her confidence, her joy,” said Cynthia Lee, who was at the sold-out rally with her daughter, granddaughters and extended family on Thursday.

Liu, who was born in Richmond and grew up training at the Oakland Ice Center, competed on the national stage at just seven years old. She became the youngest woman to land a triple Axel in international competition, and the first ever to combine it with another of the sport’s most elite moves — a quadruple jump.

The skater made her Olympic debut at 16, and after placing seventh in the individual competition in Beijing in 2022, and third in the world championship later that year, announced her retirement.

That hiatus was short-lived, though.

“I took a whole new life path. I gained a lot of clarity and sense of self,” Liu said of the two-year period during a press conference inside Oakland City Hall Thursday.

She re-emerged in 2024, and skated to a world championship win in 2025 with a new approach, focused on sharing her artistry, rather than on the rigidity and rules often associated with the sport.

“Alysa showed the world what it means to compete with heart,” Olympic figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, who trained at the same rink as Liu, said at the celebration. “She stepped out onto the ice with such confidence, joy and, most importantly, with her true self.”

Glenn Martin, the general manager at Oakland Ice Center, said Liu’s approach brought out a different side of other skaters, too.

“You wouldn’t normally see them smiling and relaxing … Alysa just brings that out of everyone,” he told KQED earlier this week.

Liu also gave a shoutout to Oakland, and the Bay Area celebrated her success. Oakland ice cream shop Fentons Creamery started scooping “Alysa’s Gold.” BART gave the “rider and local legend” a shoutout on social media and Lee praised her as a “hometown hero.”

Three weeks later, that joy is still palpable.

“We watched [Alysa’s performance] probably three times in a row,” Cynthia’s daughter, Jennifer, said from Thursday’s rally. She told KQED she and her five- and eight-year-old daughters teared up during the program. “My family, my girls, all of us have been really, really inspired and encouraged by what Alysa has done and her story. And so we just want to come out and support her and celebrate her.”

Thursday’s lineup, which featured local high school student speakers, Oakland-born turf dancing and dragon dancers from U.S. Shaolin Kung Fu, based in the city’s Chinatown, didn’t disappoint.

Oakland School of the Arts eighth grader Oliver Hajduck told KQED “the whole school came,” to the celebration.

“We have a lot of skaters at our school, almost everybody ice skates,” said fellow student Gus Johansen. “We ice skate every Tuesday and Thursday, and it’s just really awesome that we get to be here.”

Stephen and Karen Ng came out to the event from the East Bay community of Alamo. They said as immigrants from Hong Kong, who came to the U.S. more than 20 years ago, they connected with Liu’s story.

“I know that her father is an immigrant here, we are also immigrants here,” Karen said. Liu’s father Arthur immigrated to the U.S. from China’s Sichuan Province at 25. And, she added, her “son also [went] through sports and I was the mother traveling with him, going to different cultures.”

“I think it’s important for young people to learn from her example, just be yourself, know what you’re all about and try to pursue your dream,” Stephen added. “I think this is America, this is an American dream.”

Also among the crowd was Sam McCollister, who brought his two daughters to the event.

“I think it’s really important for young girls to be able to see a positive role model,” he told KQED. McCollister said he hopes his daughters’ takeaway will be that you “can be a positive influencer in your community.

“Oakland is a city of artists, a city of creators,” he continued.

KQED’s Juan Carlos Lara contributed to this report.