Alysa Liu Gained Millions of IG Followers After Winning 2 Gold Medals, Trending at Winter Olympics

American figure skater Alysa Liu enjoyed a fantastic performance at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy with two Olympic gold medals at the team event and then women's singles skating.

People also love her incredible comeback story, sincere authenticity and infectious positivity, and with all that, she has gained five million followers on Instagram in just a few weeks time.

Liu was already a decorated figure skater before she arrived in Milan. She became the youngest-ever U.S. women's national champion in 2019 at the age of 13 and defended her title the following year. Liu took bronze at the World Championships in 2022 and then retired one month later.

Two years later, Liu started writing her comeback story after announcing her return to the sport in March 2024. A year later, Liu won the World Championships in Boston and the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Nagoya, Japan.

Liu put forth a strong performance in the team event, finishing second in the free skate portion en route to Team USA taking first overall. She was third after the short program in women's singles skating before taking first after a phenomenal free skate.

After the Olympics, Liu joked to reporters that she planned to wear wigs when she goes outside now when asked during a press conference how she would deal with "superstardom."

More specifically, Liu stressed the importance of raising awareness for mental health with her newfound platform.

"I hope that with all this attention, I can at least raise awareness about mental health and sports and mental health in general," Liu said, per Philip Hersh of NBC Olympics. "And I think my story is pretty cool, and so I hope that inspires some people as well."