Team USA figure skating standout Alysa Liu has shared how her name is meant to be pronounced — while stressing she doesn’t expect strangers to automatically know it.
Liu drew major attention during the recent Winter Olympics, where she returned home with two gold medals.
She is of Chinese heritage, and her father moved to the United States through Operation Yellowbird in 1989.
Despite having lived in the US for decades, reports have suggested Chinese government spies were still tracking him as recently as the months leading up to Liu’s latest Olympic appearance.
Given her background, some fans have been unsure how to say her name correctly. The 20-year-old, however, has made it clear she understands it can be tricky for people encountering it for the first time.
In an interview with Newsweek, Liu explained how her family says it at home and what that sounds like compared to the way most people pronounce it day to day.
She said her relatives call her “Ah-lee-sa,” and that her last name is properly pronounced “Lee-oh.” At the same time, she noted that even her friends typically say it the common way: “Ah-liss-uh.”
And for Liu, the mix-up isn’t a big deal.
“I personally don’t care,” she shared. “Technically, the right way is ‘Lee-oh’, but that can be hard to pronounce. I don’t expect people to know how to say that.”
Her remarks about pronunciation come after she recently asked the public for more consideration when it comes to boundaries, following an uncomfortable experience at an airport.
Liu said she was approached by a group of fans waiting with cameras and items for her to sign, describing the situation as overwhelming — and claiming someone even followed her all the way to her car.
Posting on Instagram, Liu wrote: “So I land at the airport, & there’s a crowd waiting at the exit with cameras & things for me to sign. All up in my personal space. Someone chased me to my car bruh. Please do not do that to me.”
Her message underlined a simple point: support is appreciated, but personal space still matters.
Liu previously stepped away from competitive skating for a period after making her Olympic debut in 2022. Her father attributed the decision to the emotional toll the experience took on her.
“She became really unhappy,” he told USA TODAY Sports. “She avoided the ice rink at all costs. She’s traumatized. She was just traumatized. She was suffering from PTSD, and she wouldn’t go near the ice rink.”
It wasn’t until 2024 that Liu decided to lace up again and return to the sport.
Explaining what brought her back, Liu told the outlet: “I learned that I really just want to make art and also look at other people’s art and appreciate art honestly. I learned what I like, what I don’t like.”