As the final notes of Laufey's "The Promise" faded into a roaring ovation from the Milano crowd on Tuesday, Alysa Liu pumped her fists and flashed her now trademark prominent frenulum piercing in a smiling celebration as she finished her short program that was "on another level." But before leaving the ice to embrace her coaches, she reminded the world where her heart is, turning to the cameras to declare, "Oakland, shout out." 

Liu asserted herself as Team USA's brightest star of the 2026 Winter Games two days later, when she officially clinched an individual Olympic gold with a remarkable free skate, the first individual figure skating gold for an American woman since 2002.

The meteoric rise of her stardom this year didn't start this week, though. Before the triple-halo in her hair, the profiles on her alt style and the TikTok fancams, she was already an Olympian, once considered to be the future of American figure skating, before a shock retirement at 16.

However, none of that journey happens without Oakland, specifically the Oakland Ice Center, where Liu's training began at just 5 years old under coach Laura Lipetsky. Staffers who have been with the ice center for over a decade got an up-close look at the talent that would become the youngest gold medalist in U.S. Figure Skating Championships history. But they also got to know her off the ice, too.

"I watched her grow up from being a little kid that played with slime in the lobby with all her girlfriends out there - all the figure skaters, and stuff," Oakland Ice Center general manager Glenn Martin told SFGATE last month. "I think she just had that carefree attitude to her her whole life."

Liu's current competitive stint reflects that "carefree" perspective more than her first one. For most of her life, Liu's father, Arthur, and her coaches were in control of every minute detail of her daily routine. But during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she got a taste of what a life that didn't revolve around skating was like when the country shut down in 2020. Liu sought a return to that after the 2022 World Figure Skating Championships, when she made the shocking decision to retire at 16 years old and did everything but skating.

Two years later, Liu came back to the sport on the condition that she would have significantly more say in how her figure skating life would operate - namely, doing so without her dad's input. Arthur told "60 Minutes" he was a little hurt by the decision, but appreciated his daughter's "very free spirit." Alysa described his response as happy overall and called him "a great father."

Another example of her "carefree" spirit: There are no nerves when she skates. In a January profile on Liu, her coach Phillip DiGuglielmo told NBC News, "I always say something is wrong with her brain. She just doesn't get nervous." Those at the Oakland Ice Center have seen that as well.

"One of her favorite sayings is she just competes to skate," Glenn said. "That's her motto. She doesn't get nerved by pressure, and I think we all support her just because she's a cool kid."

"I mean, when she comes home you wouldn't know if she came in first place or second place," added Errol Garcia, Oakland Ice Center's hockey manager.

What's less carefree is her love for the Bay Area. In an interview with Visit California, her answers clearly came from someone raised locally. An ideal road trip would be to go to Santa Cruz. She loves the San Francisco beaches, and shopping on Haight Street. Her favorite restaurants are Spices 3 and Shandong in Oakland's Chinatown. Her perfect California day would start at the Golden Gate Bridge before sunrise and end with a movie at Piedmont Theater. Liu also still skates at the Union Square rink, and even made sure her sponsorshipduties had Bay Area flair at the Yerba Buena Ice Skating and Bowling Center in San Francisco.

And the Bay Area has loved her back. In addition to the banners bearing her name and face at the Oakland Ice Center, and the visit with Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, she got a recent shout-out from one of the area's most beloved athletes: Marshawn Lynch.

Whether it was Lynch's motivational words, or her lifelong dedication to her craft, Liu managed to pull off an incredible free skate performance on Thursday. The judges scored her at 150.20, which briefly vaulted her to first place by a huge nine points, and guaranteed that she'd become the first American woman to medal in figure skating at the Winter Games in 20 years. This time, when the Oaklander looked directly into the camera, she screamed, "That's what I'm f-king talking about." 

Liu will come back to the Bay Area with two gold medals around her neck: one from Thursday's immaculate performance, and another from the mixed-team short program. Of course, those cheering for her at home will celebrate, but it'll be for more than for what hangs around her neck. They were always going to be proud of how far this local comeback story went, one that had an Oakland spirit behind it.

"She's a Bay Area kid, going to school across the street, being here in Oakland, growing up as a teenager," Garcia said. "She's in her own world. She's herself. No one's changing that. And I think that's how she's been."

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This article originally published at From Oakland to Olympic gold: Alysa Liu takes figure skating crown.