A Tale of Two Athletes

Arthur Liu was born in Sichuan, China and raised in a small mountain village. In 1989, he participated in the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protest, telling Town & Country, "I organized protests and hunger strikes for democracy in China."

As a result of that participation, Arthur was forced to emigrate to the United States. In 2022, the Justice Department revealed the Chinese government was attempting to intimidate critics of the regime living in the U.S., including Arthur, who said at the time, "They are still paying attention to me after 30-some years, since I organized protests and hunger strikes for democracy in China,” he said.

In 2005, Arthur and his wife Yan "Mary" Qingxin, welcomed their daughter Alysa, the oldest of five children, all of whom were born through a surrogate. From and early age, Alysa showed a talent for figure skating, and she was inspired by Michelle Kwan. The same year that the Justice Department announced the Chinese government was intimidating her father, they tried to recruit Liu to skate for the communist nation in the 2022 Beijing Games.

Liu refused and has represented America both at Beijing and in Italy. Yesterday, she won the gold.

Alysa Liu’s father was persecuted by the CCP for the Tiananmen Square protests and fled to America

His daughter became a world-class figure skater and refused to skate for the CCP when they tried to recruit her

She just won the gold medal for Team USA 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/heirjoM07b
— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) February 19, 2026

She was the first woman to do so since 2002. And it was a remarkable career comeback. Liu retired at 16, saying she was burned out by the sport. She had spent years training for the Olympics and ended up finishing in sixth place. She was told where to go, what to eat, when to train. For a while, she wouldn’t even go near a rink. In 2024, a ski trip made her rethink skating and she got back on the ice.

This should be a bigger story. China offered Liu millions of dollars to flip to skating for them because her dad is Chinese. She & her dad said hell no because they believe in democracy in China. Meanwhile Eileen Gu, born & raised here, took millions to flip to compete for China. https://t.co/mxjHRx3ysT
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) February 20, 2026

As the Olympic Games come to a close, however, the contrast could not be clearer:

One athlete born in America chose the regime that countless others risked and lost their lives to in an effort to bring democracy to the communist nation. Another athlete, whose father risked everything for freedom, refused to skate for the government that once persecuted him. And it’s about a woman who found herself after walking away from the sport for her own personal peace.

Alysa Liu’s gold medal is not just a victory in the skating rink. It is a quiet rebuke to the idea that loyalty can be bought and that freedom is merely branding.

For the Liu family, America wasn’t a marketing opportunity. It was a refuge. And this week, it was the flag raised above the podium, and a gold medal around her neck. And in a world of Eileen Gus, be an Alysa Liu.