16-Year-Old Olympian Alysa Liu — with Her Historic Jumps — Just Wants to Be Herself on the Ice

There’s this thing that figure skaterAlysa Liulikes to do before she goes out on the ice for a competition. She’ll FaceTime her friends for a bit, just talking about whatever comes to mind.

“I know a lot of people would never do that, but I think it relieves a lot of the stress, and it makes me feel like I’m going for a practice,” Liu tells PEOPLE.

“It’s crazy that we’re all going to the Olympics,” Liu said in a recent interview before she left for Beijing. She was talking about the still-sinking-in reality that she would be skating with teammates Vincent Zhou and Karen Chen, both return Olympians.

But, in a broader sense, the 16-year-old California native is also talking abouther journey as an elite skater: a two-time national championbefore she could driveand now the youngest American skater in China.

Liu is also the first U.S. woman to land a quadruple jump in competition and the first woman — period — to land both a quad and a triple axel while competing. That’s the kind of technical prowess that is now usually required to make it onto the podium.

But Liu can be almost … nonchalantly low-key about her skills. Or as she puts it: “I’m pretty sincere and, this is really cheesy, but I’m really myself.”

Alysa Liu.Joosep Martinson/International Skating Union/Getty

Skater Alysa Liu competes at the Beijing Winter Olympics.Amin Mohammad Jamali/Getty

As for those historic leaps on the ice: “The way the jump goes up feels cool, it actually feels like you’re flying for a minute. Especially triple axel, because I don’t get that much air time, but it still feels like I’m in the air for a long time — and landing it is the cherry on top.”

Quads and triple axels also carry high risk should they not land, and Liu opted against either in her short program,where she ranked eighthheading into the second half of the event on Thursday morning (Eastern).

Sheno longer spins off the quad jumpsthat came so much easier when she was young, but she’ll plan on a triple axel for her long program and she says she sees the way that female skaters aim for the same kinds of jumps as the men as important.

“It feels good because it’ll inspire other skaters to go for it, too,” she says. “Because quads are really cool and not many people did them before, but now so many people are doing them. I just think it’s really cool that more people are trying to do them, as they should. You know?”

Alysa Liu, then 13 (right), with her father, Arthur Liu, after competing in 2019.Ray Chavez/Media News Group/The Mercury News/Getty

While Liu is competing under strictCOVID-19precautions required of all Olympians — something she is well acquainted with after testing positive for the virusduring the national championshipsin January — she knows her friends and family will be supporting her stateside.

Looking to the future, she plans to keep competing and also head to college, though juggling both will be a feat. “It’s really incredible how some skaters are doing [them] at the same time,” she says.

She’s still adjusting to the idea of being introduced to an international audience: Halfway through the women’s individual event, she is the highest-ranking of the American skaters.

“I’m also a normal person, I’m not just an athlete,” she says. “I also have a life out of skating and stuff, so I hope that’ll make it me more relatable, I guess, for other people. Hopefully, that inspires them to also pursue what they enjoy.”

On the list of Liu’s own downtime pleasures are the latest Korean dramas as well as the popular gameGenshin Impact, with scrolling breaks on Instagram and TikTok.

Alysa Liu competing in 2020.Joosep Martinson/International Skating Union/Getty

When she’s with her friends, they’ll go on any manner of adventures: long bike rides or to the beach. “Sometimes we like to torture ourselves, wake up at 4 a.m. to drive to San Francisco to watch the sunrise,” she says.

It’s only a 30-minute trek — but it’s brutal with blurry eyes.

“The view is really nice,” she says. “At least we wake up that early for something.”

To learn more about Team USA, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, now, and the Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC.

source: people.com