Alysa Liu earns honor from TIME Magazine
Two months after winning gold at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, Alysa Liu keeps racking up the accolades.
The East Bay-raised superstar who captivated America with her joyful expressiveness in addition to her all-world figure skating prowess was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2026, released this week.
RELATED: New Alysa Liu and Kristi Yamaguchi mural at Oakland Ice Center
The list features short essays authored by other celebrities explaining why the subject made such an impact on them. Liu’s entry is written by comedian and former “Saturday Night Live” star Bowen Yang, who recalled watching the 20-year-old former skating retiree share the stage with fellow U.S. “Blade Angels” Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito.
Yang called Liu “a wonderful friend, a loyal teammate, a style icon with an activist lineage and impeccable music taste. All of those selves converge when she takes the ice, completely relaxed, ready to present something greater than the sum of its lutzes, set to multiple Gaga medleys.”
Liu has traveled the talk show circuit since, celebrating with her fans, dodging the sudden paparazzi swarm and meeting people like Daniel Radcliffe to revel in mutual admiration, as chronicled by former Bay Area News Group columnist Marcus Thompson for The Athletic.
Her influence in the Bay Area is evident at her longtime training ground, the Oakland Ice Center, where a new mural alongside fellow Bay Area Olympic gold winner Kristi Yamaguchi was recently unveiled — the third in the city featuring Liu since she won individual and team gold in February.
It’s evident around the corner at Frank Ogawa Plaza, where more than a thousand fans gathered on a weekday last month to honor Liu for her achievement, with fellow Bay Area Olympic gold medalists Yamaguchi, Brian Boitano and Andre Ward (boxing) joining in, and some attendees wearing her now-famous “raccoon” striped hairstyle.
And it’ll be on display once more on May 17, when Liu takes the stage at SAP Center’s Stars on Ice stop, giving fans another chance to see her take over an arena.
“I'm a fan of Alysa's for life, and I won't be casual about it,” Yang wrote, and he’s not the only one.
Liu is in the “icons” section of TIME’s list alongside actors Kate Hudson, Wagner Moura and Sterling K. Brown. The magazine’s editor-in-chief, Sam Jacobs, explained how the list came together:
“Our selections are led by the stories that are shaping the world each year and the people who write them. Some are well known to many, others only within their fields. To find them, we poll our editors, reporters, and sources around the world, and review the recommendations that are sent to us every day.
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This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 3:23 PM.