ALYSA LIU 'NOW THAT I HAVE CONTROL, I WANT TO SHOW IT'

First there were the press conferences.

- By ALEX MORRIS

Then there were the parties. Turns out, the first time figure skater Alysa Liu got a proper sleep after winning Olympic gold was on her flight home from Milan a few days later. “We got upgraded, because they were like, ‘We can’t put you in the back of the plane!’ ” she says. “So, shout-out to those Delta flight attendants.”

Since then, Liu has been getting used to a hero’s welcome, from the Oakland creamery that offered her ice cream for life to the paparazzi who followed her car after a Today show appearance. America loves a sweetheart, and we love a winner even more. But Liu has captivated the country with more than just her skill and charm. At 13, she was the youngest person ever to win the women’s National Championship (only four feet seven at the time, she famously had to be helped up onto the podium).

At 16, she placed sixth at the Beijing Olympics, earned bronze at the World Championships, and then abruptly quit the sport in a post on Instagram. Her return to figure skating two years later was more than just an incredible comeback (nine months after resuming training, she was named world champion); it was a testament to the power of finding success on one’s own terms. With her halo hair, her “smiley” piercing, and her vibey performances to Lady Gaga and Laufey, Liu is no ice princess; she eats what she wants, wears what she wants, skates how she wants — and looks like she is having a ball doing it. (“That’s what I’m fucking talking about!” she shouted after her medal-clinching free skate in Milan.) “My goal was to just do amazing programs,” she says. “And the moment I finished my free skate and also the gala program, that’s when I was like, ‘Yeah, my goal is complete.’ ”

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