The Unstoppable Alysa Liu
Watching a young woman be free was the joy I didn’t know I needed
I don’t really follow figure skating or the Olympics, so you can imagine my shock when I found myself sobbing while watching young skater Alysa Liu perform her gold medal-winning free skate. Flying across the ice with a huge smile on her face, Liu took my breath away—literally. At one point during the program, I gasped aloud.
At first, I didn’t understand why I was having such an emotional reaction. It’s always inspiring to see someone who is truly excellent at what they do, but this went beyond witnessing greatness. It actually took revisiting the program a few more times before it dawned on me: I was watching a young woman be free.
From Liu’s fluidity and obvious joy on the ice to her punky striped hair and the mouth piercing that peeked through whenever she smiled (which was often), she was beautifully, unabashedly herself.
I cried because every spin, jump, and slide was evidence of what’s possible when you let women achieve greatness on their own terms. I cried because in a country intent on quashing any semblance of freedom for young women, Liu’s skating reminded me what’s at stake—and all we have to lose.
After all, the 20-year-old really is conservatives’ worst nightmare—and I don’t just mean her hair or the fact that she follows AOC on Instagram. This is a young woman who made history by refusing to be controlled.
After years in the notoriously rigid sport, Liu quit skating at 16 years old, burned out and unhappy. “I really hated skating when I quit,” she said. She decided to return a few years later, but only under certain conditions:
“I get to pick my own program music. I get to help with the creative process of the program. If I feel like I’m skating too much, I’ll back down. If I feel like I’m not skating enough, I’ll ramp it up. No one’s gonna starve me or tell me what I can and can’t eat.”
Perhaps most importantly, she fired her father—who had been managing her since she was 5 years old. “She told me that I was not going to be involved at all, that I was no longer part of the team,” Arthur Liu told The New York Times.
When Liu got on the ice for her winning program, you could literally see that weight lifted. That was part of the reason I cried, too. It was clear how light she felt, and I wondered if my daughter would ever get to experience the same sense of freedom.
Liu’s performance embodied everything conservatives are trying to kill. They don’t want women to excel—especially by their own rules. Right now, young women are being told to forgo all ambition, marry young, stay at home, and have as many children as possible. I keep thinking about JD Vance telling women they won’t find “meaning in a cubicle,” but through motherhood. Would he say the same to Liu—that she’d be better off skipping the Olympics to change diapers?
That’s what makes the young skater so terrifying to conservatives: her power and presence are undeniable. In a sport known for its hyperfemininity—all sparkles and flippy skirts—and in a time when social media is rife with perfectly coiffed tradwives who don’t speak unless spoken to, here’s an alternative-looking young woman whose first words to the camera after skating were, “That’s what I’m fucking talking about!”
It’s the kind of joy and resistance that doesn’t just inspire—it threatens.
There’s a picture of Liu on the Olympic podium going viral right now: in it, she’s jumping for joy, hands up, smile big, with maybe a foot of air beneath her skates. She looks like she’s floating.
She looks unstoppable.
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OMG yes! That's what I'm fuckin' talking about. I added her to my other "one good thing," because how could I not? I missed the original telecast, so I watched the next day on YouTube. I was in a room by myself and bawled like a baby. I've now watched five times and probably after reading this, will watch it again. (I am about to shut my laptop down after being at a conference for several days, so it's my last chance until after I fly home. ETA-watched it for the sixth time plus a video of all she did after leaving the ice, through the podium and National Anthem. Cried some more.)
>>>I cried because every spin, jump, and slide was evidence of what’s possible when you let women achieve greatness on their own terms. I cried because in a country intent on quashing any semblance of freedom for young women, Liu’s skating reminded me what’s at stake—and all we have to lose.>>>
This so resonated with me. The joy she brought to us, and exemplified herself, will never be erased. I do watch the Olympics and figure skating, back to the Dorothy Hamill days, and this goes down as the greatest free program of all time, in terms of what skating is supposed to be about. I also cried when I saw Ilia Malinin's reaction, because he could see what was possible when he sheds all the pressure placed upon him. It's extraordinary to see a young woman doing this, but men will benefit as well. As will we all.
So well articulated Jessica! You have captured the hearts and minds of so many of us out here weeping with you! Thank you - she was a force of nature to behold - I exhaled, wept, and reflected on my emotional response as well. Wow, wow, wow!!!