Alysa Liu Net Worth

What is Alysa Liu's Net Worth?

Alysa Liu is a retired competitive figure skater who has a net worth of $500 thousand.

A prodigy from a young age, Liu rose rapidly through the U.S. skating system and made history in 2019 by becoming the youngest skater ever to win the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at age 13, breaking a record previously held by Tara Lipinski. Known for her technical difficulty, she was among the first American women to consistently land triple Axels in competition and went on to win a second consecutive national title in 2020.

As she transitioned to senior international competition, Liu won multiple Challenger Series events and represented the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics, finishing seventh. She followed that performance with a bronze medal at the World Championships, becoming only the second American woman to medal at Worlds since 2006. Despite her success, Liu retired from competitive skating later that year at just 16, citing burnout and a desire to experience life outside the sport.

Nearly two years later, Liu returned on her own terms. Training with a new mindset and greater creative control, she staged a remarkable comeback, winning the World Championship and reestablishing herself as an Olympic favorite. Her career now reflects both extraordinary early achievement and rare reinvention.

Early Life and Education

Alysa Liu was born on August 8, 2005, in Clovis, California, and raised primarily in the Bay Area. She is the eldest of five children raised by her father, Arthur Liu, a lawyer who emigrated to the United States after fleeing China as a political refugee following his involvement in pro-democracy demonstrations around the time of Tiananmen Square. Liu and her siblings were born via surrogacy with an anonymous egg donor. Arthur's former wife, Mary, serves as the children's legal guardian.

Liu attended Chinese school for several years before enrolling at the Oakland School for the Arts. As her skating career intensified and travel demands increased, she eventually transitioned to homeschooling, allowing her to train and compete year-round at an elite level.

Start of Figure Skating Career 

Liu began figure skating at the age of five after her father brought her to the Oakland Ice Center. From an early age, her talent was evident. By 2015, she was already competing nationally, placing seventh at the Central Pacific Regional Championships as a juvenile skater. The following year, she won the intermediate gold medal at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, becoming the youngest female skater ever to do so.

As a novice skater in 2017, Liu finished fourth at the U.S. Championships, continuing a rapid ascent that placed her among the most closely watched young skaters in the country.

(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

National Breakthrough and Historic Records

In 2018, Liu became the youngest skater to compete in the junior division at the U.S. Championships. Despite skating while ill, she won the national junior title, announcing herself as a generational talent. Later that year, she won silver at the International Challenge Cup and gold at the Asian Open Trophy, where she landed a clean triple Axel in the free skate.

Her breakthrough moment came at the 2019 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. At just 13 years old, Liu became the youngest woman in history to win the senior national title, breaking a long-standing record previously held by Tara Lipinski. During the competition, she also became the youngest female skater to land a triple Axel at U.S. Nationals and the first to complete three triple Axels in a single U.S. competition.

She followed that success with strong performances on the junior international circuit, including victories on the ISU Junior Grand Prix and a silver medal in Poland. In 2020, Liu defended her national title, becoming a two-time U.S. champion with a career-best score.

Pandemic Disruption and Growing Burnout

The COVID-19 pandemic marked a turning point in Liu's relationship with the sport. With rinks closed and competitions canceled, she experienced her first extended break from skating since early childhood. Rather than frustration, the pause brought relief.

Liu later acknowledged that the break made her realize how abnormal her upbringing had been, defined by daily training, constant travel, and relentless pressure. When rinks reopened, she returned reluctantly. Although she continued competing at a high level, including medaling at the World Junior Championships, her enthusiasm for the sport had begun to fade.

Senior Career and Beijing Olympics

In the 2021–2022 season, Liu transitioned fully into senior international competition. She won both the CS Lombardia Trophy and the CS Nebelhorn Trophy, finishing as the top overall performer on the ISU Challenger Series. She later competed on the senior Grand Prix circuit, finishing mid-pack at Skate Canada and the NHK Trophy.

At the 2022 U.S. Championships, Liu withdrew after testing positive for COVID-19 but successfully petitioned onto the U.S. Olympic team. At the Beijing Winter Olympics, she finished seventh in the women's singles event. One month later, she won a bronze medal at the World Championships, becoming only the second American woman to medal at Worlds since 2006.

Despite these accomplishments, Liu felt emotionally depleted.

Early Retirement at 16

In April 2022, at just 16 years old, Alysa Liu announced her retirement from competitive figure skating. She cited a desire to move on with her life, explore college, travel, and experience a sense of normalcy she had never known.

During her time away, Liu traveled extensively, including trekking to Everest Base Camp in Nepal, went on road trips with friends, and lived without a training schedule. Skating, she later said, was the last thing on her mind.

Return to the Ice and Reinvention

Nearly two years after retiring, Liu quietly returned to skating. What began as casual sessions for enjoyment gradually reignited her competitive instincts. Unlike her earlier career, this return was entirely self-driven.

She reunited with longtime coaches Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali and resumed full-time training in mid-2024 at her home rink in Oakland. Physically, she was taller and stronger than before. Artistically, she skated with a freedom that had never been present in her youth.

For the first time, Liu controlled her own schedule, music choices, and creative direction. She approached skating as performance and expression rather than obligation.

Liu's comeback quickly exceeded expectations. She surged back into elite form and stunned the skating world by capturing the World Championship title, completing one of the most improbable returns in modern figure skating history.

Now competing with maturity and autonomy, Liu has reframed her identity within the sport. She views competition as a stage rather than a test, prioritizing emotional impact over perfection. As she prepares for another Olympic appearance, she does so not as a prodigy under pressure, but as an artist performing on her own terms.

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