The 2026 Winter Olympics may have wrapped, but the buzz around Team USA and its standout stars is still going strong. The U.S. brought home 33 total medals from Milano Cortina 2026, including two golds courtesy of fan favorite Alysa Liu.
The 20-year-old dominated in women’s singles figure skating and the mixed team event, instantly cementing herself as one of the Games’ biggest names. And just as fans cheered her on at the rink, they showed up with the same energy when she appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Before officially coming out of retirement to compete in the 2026 Games, Liu stopped by the late-night show and flipped the script on Fallon with a very on-brand challenge. “I brought a few videos of me on the ice during training and I want to see if you can guess what the element is,” the 20 year old said during her December 2025 appearance.
The two went head-to-head for three rounds as clips rolled of Liu performing a triple lutz-triple loop combo, a Biellmann spin, and a triple axel. Fallon managed to guess two out of three correctly, but honestly, the real moment was the crowd’s reaction. The audience erupted after each clip.
And for good reason. Just last week, Liu delivered a dazzling free skate to “MacArthur Park Suite” by Donna Summer that earned her the Olympic gold medal in the ladies’ singles event. With that win, she became the first female American Olympic champion since Sarah Hughes in 2002 and the first American woman to medal since Sasha Cohen in 2006.
Her victory marks a full-circle comeback. After competing in Beijing at just 16, Liu stunned the skating world by announcing her retirement. Over the next two years, she enrolled at UCLA, explored photography and even trekked to Mount Everest base camp.
