Alysa Liu is an American figure skater who had the profound privilege and honor of winning the Olympic gold medal last week in women’s singles free skate. With poise and grace, she skated a nearly perfect routine. Her gold medal ended a more than 20-year drought for Team USA in this event.

While her victory was historic, her story is even more interesting.

Alysa’s journey begins with her father, Arthur Liu — a student activist, leader, and protester at Tiananmen Square in 1989. Because of his anti-dictatorial activities, it was only a matter of time before he was arrested, so he escaped first to Hong Kong and then legally emigrated to the United States. Arthur earned his law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and then started his own law firm in Northern California.

Alysa is the oldest of five children, all of whom were gestated via surrogacy. This part is unfortunate, as the surrogate industry is not only contentious, but these five children grew up without a mother. Nevertheless, Alysa showed great talent for figure skating at a very young age, and her father pushed her to be the best she could be. This ultimately led her to the 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics.

The Liu family’s story gets even more interesting, though. In the lead-up to the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese Communist Party sent spies to go after Arthur and, by extension, Alysa; five were arrested in connection with the plot, and Alysa went under the protection of the FBI as a result. She was accompanied by two agents at all times during the Beijing Olympics due to the threat.

The intense nature of China’s intimidation campaign was very hard on Alysa. When one considers the loss of privacy at the age of 16 on top of the immense pressure that Olympic-level figure skating brings, it’s no wonder she became unhappy with skating for a time and temporarily retired.

Alysa eventually returned to figure skating after realizing how much she missed it. She made the news in 2019 for being the first American to make it to the World Figure Skating Championships after a dry spell of 19 years. This culminated in an Olympic gold medal last week.

On the podium, Alysa’s playful, joyful personality shone. Unlike her teammate, Amber Glenn, Alysa utilized her newfound attention like a professional, like an athlete who loves her country and her sport.

Leftists are pointing out that Alysa is a California progressive Democrat; ergo, conservatives aren’t allowed to be proud of her because she thinks differently than us. In truth, most conservatives don’t particularly care what political position an American athlete adheres to. We care more about a person’s love of country and doing our nation proud on the world stage. Alysa Liu did both.

Liberals are mocking conservatives for supporting Alysa Liu, and celebrating her gold medal win in the Olympics … because they say she’s woke.

But in their attempt to own the right on this, they’re exposing who THEY are. It’s not even fathomable to people on the left to… pic.twitter.com/ctwu08N56b

— OutspokenSamantha (@Outspoken_Sam) February 21, 2026

An even starker contrast of patriotism is the choice of this brave young athlete to compete for Team USA while others with similar family ties to China chose to represent communism.

The most promoted of these athletes was freestyle skier Eileen Gu, who has been propped up by the Leftmedia as someone whom Americans should support and admire. While her athletic prowess and achievements are commendable, her choice as an American citizen who grew up in the States to compete in the Olympics for Team China should be disqualifying.

Gu has certainly profited from her choice, raking in millions from the Chinese government while getting to enjoy the freedoms of a constitutional republic in the U.S. As Strategy Risks VP Melissa Chen observes, “Her case reinforces the transactional ethos of neoliberal globalism: that all people, cultures, and allegiances are fluid, unbound by borders or heritage. Davos Man prioritizes economic opportunities, and universal values like individualism or multiculturalism above ALL else.”

In other words, the U.S. is where Eileen Gu is free to say and do what she wants, yet she shows no loyalty to the country that gave her those freedoms. This is called liberal elitism.

Lawyer and political analyst Gordon Chang opined, “Eileen Gu is unlucky that Alysa Liu’s patriotism stands in stark contrast to Gu’s betrayal of her country.”

The Liu vs. Gu contrast of American patriotism — American by birth vs. Chinese by choice — deserves to be highlighted if only to once again shine a light on the American story. It doesn’t matter where you come from. If you come to the U.S. as a legal immigrant, embrace our culture, and cherish our inalienable rights, the fruits are abundant and will only grow with each generation if stewarded well.