When Oakland native Alysa Liu won the women’s individual figure skating gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano, what captured the hearts of fans was not just her striped hair and shining medal, but her fresh approach to competition.
The “Alysa Liu mindset” refers to Liu’s new mentality around competitive figure skating, focusing on balancing necessary breaks with ambitious drive and prioritizing personal fulfillment over results. At just 16 years old, Liu had retired after the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, where she placed sixth, citing burnout and frustration over her career’s lack of control. However, in 2024, she returned to the sport on her own terms.
In an interview with the NBC after winning Olympic gold, Liu described her approach to skating as focused on enjoying the process of competing instead of the reward, prioritizing mental and physical health over scores.
“Winning isn’t all that, and neither is losing,” Liu said. “It’s just something that happens. It’s the outcome. But what matters is the input and the journey. And I would say take a break. I take breaks even now, and I think that’s the way to (succeed).”
Varsity volleyball player junior Richard de la Garza previously struggled with comparison to others in his sport and feeling as if he was behind. Now, Liu’s success while keeping a balanced attitude proves to him that he can achieve his goals on his own terms.
“(Liu) is living proof that you may fail the first time, but if you come back with a different mindset, and when you live in a way that you know you can succeed in, rather than what other people think, you can accomplish a lot,” he said.
Liu’s radical competition mentality, combined with her mastery in performance despite an unexpected return, has skyrocketed both her international and local media impact. Especially in the Bay Area, the teen mental health crisis has called attention to stressors in teens’ everyday lives, including burnout. Burnout is defined as physical, emotional or mental exhaustion, accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance and increased negativity.
According to the student-led research initiative AIM Youth Mental Health in 2025, 75.5% of Bay Area students know of peers struggling with high stress levels or burnout. These high levels of burnout directly result in a decline of youth participation in sports. An article by the American Academy of Pediatrics states that while more than 60 million children and adolescents participate in organized sports, over 70% of youth athletes quit by age 13, with injury and burnout among the top reasons. Elevated physical and mental exhaustion from overwork call for a prioritization of rest in approach to competition.
Stanford sports psychologist and former Yale football player Dr. Roy Collins believes that a more balanced approach to sports minimizes burnout and can lead to higher rates of success.
“We’re meant to be, as human beings, well-rounded to a certain extent,” he said. “Getting a chance to express all your different identities and care for them like plants in the garden overall leads to better performances, as we’re able to be multidimensional and true (to ourselves).”
Many believe the pressure placed on child athletes is especially prevalent in figure skating, where skaters, mainly young girls, face pressure to peak as teenagers and endure extreme training for the promise of success.
Liu’s experience with these standards is a key factor, as to why her return became so widely discussed within the figure skating community, even before the Olympics. At 13, she made history by becoming the U.S. National Champion, the youngest to ever do so, after landing a historic three triple axels. At 14, she landed a quadruple lutz in competition, making her the first American woman to land a quadruple jump. From a young age, Liu had felt outside pressure to fulfill her role as the American hope for figure skating, no matter the physical toll.
Liu broke free from this cycle at 16 when she announced her retirement due to mental and physical exhaustion. For two years, she remained completely removed from the figure skating world, until her sudden comeback announcement in 2024. Many fans doubted she could replicate her former success, arguing that she would never be able to compete with current, younger skaters. Yet Liu surpassed public expectations by winning the 2025 World Championships and eventually, the Olympics.
For Stanford figure skating club member Audrey Akkerman, Liu’s success showed how age shouldn’t be a limit to success.
“For (Liu) to really become that skater that people felt she could always be and to succeed in ways that people thought no one would ever do was huge,” she said. “She really was able to understand that at the end of the day, this is just figure skating. It’s not a life or death situation, and it should really never become that.”
