Sports
Alysa Liu 2.0: How retirement, perspective helped the U.S. star reach new heights
MILAN — Alysa Liu wore a hollow smile on the ice. She had achieved a dream, skating at the Beijing Olympics at just 16, but in a mostly empty arena, few were there to see the moment.
Perhaps that was what Liu secretly wanted.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to be seen,” Liu said. “It’s just I had nothing to show.”
The 20-year-old now proudly presents Alysa Liu 2.0.
Four years after shocking the sport by retiring as a teenage phenom, the Oakland native could win two gold medals at the Milan-Cortina Olympics. She is a title contender in her individual event that begins Feb. 17 as the United States tries to end a 20-year Olympic medal drought in women’s singles figure skating, and she will skate Friday in the women’s short program of a team competition the United States is favored to win.
Armed with a new perspective from her two-year retirement, Liu now smiles genuinely on and off the ice, no matter if there’s a medal around her neck or not.
“I have so much I want to express and show, whether that’s through skating or just through my presence,” said Liu, who placed sixth in Beijing. “It’s exciting to think about that being seen.”
When she made her Olympic debut, Liu didn’t feel like her career belonged to her. Her father, Arthur, was a driving force in her skating career. In a sport where coaches and choreographers often call the shots for young athletes, Liu entered the Olympic stage with programs she didn’t like and clothes she didn’t pick. She was behind a mask and couldn’t express herself. She barely knew how to.
Skating had consumed her entire life. She felt “trapped and stuck” in the sport. So she left.
After retiring following the 2022 world championships — where she won a bronze medal — Liu got her driver’s license. She hiked to Mount Everest base camp with friends. She went shopping for not-skating clothes, played Fortnite until 4 a.m. with her siblings and enrolled at UCLA. She loved studying psychology.
“I found what I like and what I didn’t like,” said Liu, who took time off from UCLA to prepare for the Olympics but hopes to return before her friends graduate. “Really got to know myself, because [when] I had skating, I didn’t really know myself. I couldn’t know myself. I only ever did one thing.”
Alysa Liu practices in Milan on Thursday ahead of the Olympic team competition, which starts Friday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
After a casual ski trip reminded her of the joys of skating, Liu made the decision to return to the sport that shaped, and nearly stole, her childhood. But she would only do it on her terms.
The choreography, the music and the costumes would all be her choice. She doesn’t compete to win. She skates to show her art, she said.
In the process, she’s winning more than ever.
She won the world championship in 2025, becoming the first U.S. woman to win the world title since 2006. She won the Grand Prix final in Japan in December, the last major international competition before the Milan-Cortina Games to announce herself as a potential Olympic champion.
The day before her last performance at the U.S. championships, the final competition that would decide her Olympic bid, Liu ran to a St. Louis salon to dye her hair to match a new skating dress. Unbothered by the pressure of the moment, she debuted a Lady Gaga free skate that brought fans to their feet and earned her a silver medal.
“When you are an Olympic athlete that has a chance in front of the world every four years, it literally is your life’s work that’s on the line,” NBC analyst and two-time Olympian Johnny Weir said. “And she has found a way to compartmentalize that and put it down. … I just think it’s so wonderfully healthy and brave and strong to be doing what she is, because it takes a lot of bravery to put down the pressure that the sport naturally has.”
Liu is just a natural talent in the sport, 2022 Olympian Mariah Bell said. Bell remembered during the Stars on Ice tour in 2022 when the skaters rolled into a new city, tired, groggy and sore from the long bus ride, Liu, dressed in a baggy hoodie and billowing sweatpants, could go on the ice and throw perfect jumps without warning. Bell stood in awe.
U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu practices on Thursday in Milan.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
After Liu’s short program at the U.S. championships last month set a national championship record, Bell was blown away for different reasons.
“She’s so sophisticated and mature and emotional,” Bell said. “When she was younger, she was incredible. But when you’re 13, you don’t skate the way that you do like how she did the short program [at the U.S. championships].”
Skating to Laufey’s “Promise,” a haunting piano ballad, Liu glided through a flawless short program that she said nearly moved her to tears. Fans showered her with stuffed animals.
Liu has always commanded attention in the sport. She was the youngest skater to perform a triple axel in international competition at 12, became the youngest U.S. champion at 13 and followed with another national title at 14. She was the first U.S. woman to complete a quad lutz in competition, doing so in the 2019 Junior Grand Prix in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Six years later, back in that same arena for Skate America in 2025, Liu told her coaches she didn’t remember her historic accomplishment.
“It feels like I’m watching or I got someone else’s memories,” said Liu, who had similar, disconnected, but overall positive memories of her Olympic experience in Beijing. “It feels like a totally different person, but we are definitely the same person.”
U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu practices in Milan on Thursday as she prepares for the team competition, which starts Friday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Exchange the delicate, ballerina-like skating dresses with bold, modern asymmetrical designs. Undo the tight, slicked back bun and bring in halo dyed hair, dark eyeliner and the piercing she did herself on the inside of her upper lip. With three horizontal stripes dyed into her hair, each layer represents a year of the new life Liu is finally happy to put on display.
“I want to be seen more because I like what I have going on,” Liu said. “I like what I’m doing.”
Sports
Knicks crush Cavaliers in Game 2, take commanding 2-0 lead in series behind Josh Hart’s career night
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The New York Knicks didn’t need a historic comeback to take Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals from the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday.
Instead, it was a dominant victory in regulation, 109-93, as the Knicks take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series to Cleveland this weekend.
There was no hangover for the Cavaliers to begin the game, as they owned a 27-24 lead at the end of the first quarter. But the Knicks found their way into the lead by halftime.
Josh Hart of the New York Knicks dribbles the ball against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the third quarter in Game Two of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York City on May 21, 2026. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
It was the third quarter where New York started to pull away, getting the lead up to 18 points as the Madison Square Garden crowd went ballistic. The Knicks went on an 18-0 run at one point as well, which was reminiscent of Game 1’s fourth-quarter comeback.
However, Cleveland wasn’t letting off the gas despite the deficit. The Cavaliers cut the 18-point lead in half with around 8:30 left in the fourth quarter, as New York struggled to buy a basket.
KNICKS STORM BACK TO SHOCK CAVS IN GAME 1 AS JAMES HARDEN’S DEFENSIVE PLAY COMES UNDER SCRUTINY
But once OG Anunoby knocked down a three-pointer from the left wing, things were back to normal for the Knicks crowd.
Mikal Bridges, who had a stellar night on both ends of the floor, hit a wide-open three with 6:12 remaining in the fourth that got the lead back up to 13 for the Knicks, and they would coast from there.
Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks celebrates after making a basket against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the third quarter in Game Two of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York City on May 21, 2026. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Jalen Brunson, the team’s All-Star point guard, was phenomenal in the comeback on Tuesday night, dropping 38 points. But Cleveland made their game plan known right away in this matchup, putting pressure on him to the point where he’d be giving up the rock in double-teams.
As a result, the Cavaliers were fine with Josh Hart taking shots instead. While the plan seemed to work in the first half a bit, Hart found his groove in the second and set a new career high with a team-high 26 points on 10-of-21 shooting, including 5-of-11 from three-point range. He also got on the board with seven assists, four rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, Brunson tallied 19 points and dished out a playoff career-high 14 assists for New York. And once again, Karl-Anthony Towns recorded a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, playing efficiently for Mike Brown’s Knicks.
With the lead back up to 18 for the Knicks, all starters were pulled with under two minutes to play, as the crowd gave their squad a standing ovation for a job well done.
The Knicks shot 52% from the field and only saw 14 foul shots all game long, but they held the Cavaliers to just 39% shooting as a team. Cleveland also failed to capitalize on key free throws late in the game, as they were in the bonus with over nine minutes to play. As a team, they shot just 69% (22-of-32) from the charity stripe.
Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks dribbles against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the third quarter in Game Two of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York City on May 21, 2026. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
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Evan Mobley also had 14 points in the first half, but he curiously didn’t take a single shot in the second half for Cleveland. Donovan Mitchell matched Hart’s 26 points, though he shot 8-of-18. James Harden also went 6-of-15 for 18 points.
With the win, the Knicks have now won nine straight playoff games.
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SOUTHERN SECTION SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS
(Games at 3:15 p.m. unless noted)
SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
Semifinals
DIVISION 1
La Habra at Etiwanda
JSerra at Norco
DIVISION 2
Whittier Christian at St. Paul
San Clemente at Mater Dei
DIVISION 3
North Torrance at Great Oak
Riverside Prep at Dos Pueblos
DIVISION 4
Oxnard at Monrovia
Burbank Burroughs at Mission Viejo
DIVISION 5
Patriot at Grace
Covina at Northwood
DIVISION 6
Granite Hills at Irvine
Hesperia Christian at Arroyo
DIVISION 7
Ramona Convent at Faith Baptist
Cathedral City at Edgewood
DIVISION 8
San Bernardino at Workman
Capistrano Valley Christian at Arroyo Valley
Note: Finals May 28-30 at Bill Barber Memorial Park, Irvine.
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William Davis, the football player for the Sam Houston State Bearkats who transferred to the school after playing one year with the West Virginia Mountaineers, reportedly died from a gunshot wound to the chest.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Virginia said it’s unclear whether it’s a homicide, and that the manner of Davis’ death is pending, according to TMZ.
Sam Houston State head coach Phil Longo released a statement on Sunday confirming the 22-year-old’s death.
William Davis participating in spring workouts at Sam Houston State. (Sam Houston State University)
“It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the loss of Will Davis,” Longo said in a statement. “Will was a beloved member of our Bearkat football family here at Sam Houston who touched the lives of everyone he knew.
“Will was an upbeat, positive, passionate young man who will be sincerely missed. Tanya, the kids and I are praying for Will’s family during this difficult time.”
Davis began his college career at Virginia Union, playing 19 games and recording five interceptions and one touchdown. Following the 2024 season, he transferred to West Virginia and played in one game for them.
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Former Western Virginia Mountaineers defensive back William Davis died in May 2026. (West Virginia University)
Davis graduated from West Virginia with a master of science in sports management in 2025. He was set to compete for a roster spot at Sam Houston State, and said the campus felt like home.
“Sam Houston felt like home from the moment I first set foot on campus,” he said, via Nilson Sports. “As a Virginia kid that had played every snap of football in my life within driving distance of home, it was important to me that I’d play somewhere where I fit seamlessly into the culture if I was going to be so distant geographically.”
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“The ability to play for Coach Dovonte Edwards, someone with experience playing in the NFL that can show me the blueprint of what it looks like to become the type of player who can achieve success at the highest level, was a motivating factor for me as well.”
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
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