Alysa Liu was the top American skater after the short program of the women’s figure skating competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics. With a score of 69.50, she is in eighth place, landing in the penultimate group for the free skate.
With no publicly out LGBTQ skaters in the women’s competition that Outsports has identified, Liu is still someone the community can cheer for, as she has not hidden her embrace of the LGBTQ community on social media.
In her “Important” Instagram stories last June, Liu included a “Happy Pride” message while highlighting several LGBTQ trailblazers. She has used that tag to highlight social causes she supports.
She also celebrated Instagram’s addition of pronouns into profiles, including “they” in her Instagram bio as one of her own preferred pronouns. Many of her friends she’s mentioned on Instagram have done the same. Whatever her intention with that, it’s an acknowledgement of support for people who don’t feel that he/she pronouns fit who they are.
The 16-year-old phenom was born and raised in California. This is (obviously) her first Olympics. She was the national champion in 2019 and 2020.
If LGBTQ fans are looking for someone to cheer for, Liu has been cheering for the community for a while.
Also of note is Leona Hendrickx of Belgium, whose brother and coach, Jorik Hendrickx, is gay. Jorik and Leona were both skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Jorik has since retired from competition and focuses on his sister’s skating career.
