Alysa Liu’s Olympic success sparks global surge in figure skating

Since her stellar and viral performances in Milan, the 20-year-old figure skater has rapidly transcended the rink, amassing eight million Instagram followers while making appearances at Paris Fashion Week and the Vanity Fair Oscar Party. She has even been honored with murals and a key to the city of Oakland.

“We have some of the most famous Olympians in history with Kristi Yamaguchi, Dorothy Hamill and Peggy Fleming,” U.S. Figure Skating (USFS) chief executive officer Matt Farrell told Sporty. “But Alysa and the [2026 U.S. Olympic] team have transcended that.”

Both the USFS and the International Skating Union are now working on how to turn this viral momentum into long-term commercial success for the sport.

“Liu is fantastic for the sport,” Colin Smith, director general for the ISU, said. “She’s not only a great talent, but she’s a great person, and [her] personality and the charisma and the character and the sort of the laid-back approach [she takes] to our sport, it’s fantastic.”

The impact is already yielding tangible results at the grassroots level. Preliminary data show a 20% to 30% spike in learn-to-skate enrollments across the U.S. in the weeks following the Milan Cortina Games. This shatters the typical 10% bump often seen during Olympic years.

Most notably, this growth is booming in non-traditional areas. Rinks in states like Alabama, Indiana, and Kansas are reporting massive influxes of new skaters. One facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, registered 300 new students in February alone, matching its usual annual enrollment in just four weeks.

“I think the skaters of today are opening the aperture, if you will, of people looking at [the sport] like, ‘Oh, this might be something for me,’” Farrell said.

To capture this expanding audience, the ISU recently issued a request for proposal regarding global sponsorship and broadcast rights. Smith emphasized a desire to avoid restrictive paywalls and maximize viewership, especially after the recent Olympics drew unexpected interest from heavily populated nations like Mexico, Indonesia, and Thailand.

However, capitalizing on this digital-age popularity requires solving the sport’s complex music licensing issues. Historically, the music clearance processes have kept figure skating highlights off major streaming platforms and social media, where viral moments often disappear within two days.

Farrell stated that forging stronger relationships with record labels is now a top priority.

Because Liu’s recent routines triggered massive streaming spikes for her chosen tracks, like “MacArthur Park” and “Stateside”, executives believe figure skaters can become music influencers, potentially even helping artists release new songs.

Beyond marketing, the sport’s governing bodies are evaluating structural changes to protect their athletes. Discussions are underway to prioritize career longevity over the dangerous, boundary-pushing quadruple jumps that currently dominate scoring.

Liu herself has been a vocal proponent of this shift. Following her Milan triumphs, she told Vanity Fair that she would love to separate the sport into distinct jump, spin, and artistry competitions, allowing skaters to perform at their peak without sacrificing their physical well-being.

Alysa Liu’s competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics