Alysa Liu is the 20-year-old who won America’s first Olympic figure skating gold in 24 years, and this spring she landed on the TIME100 Most Influential People list, the youngest name on it.
On Thursday, that momentum carried her to the TIME100 Sports Gala, where she shared a room with Prince Harry and turned heads in a sheer black lace look.
Alysa Liu took the stage at the TIME100 Sports Gala at Pier 60, Chelsea Piers in New York on Thursday wearing a high-collared black lace dress cut in a cheongsam style with frog buttons, her hair pulled back and streaked with color.
Prince Harry and ice dancer Madison Chock were in the room. In one candid photo from the night, Liu laughs beside Harry as he gestures with both hands and appears to look away, almost as if he’s making a point not to stare at her sheer black lace look.
The Oakland-raised UCLA student won gold in women’s singles at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, becoming the first American woman to do it since Sarah Hughes in 2002. She also helped Team USA win team gold. In April, she was named to the TIME100 Most Influential People list, the youngest person on it, with comedian Bowen Yang writing her profile.
Liu has never been one to treat any of it too heavily. After winning Olympic gold, she downplayed the medal itself: “I don’t need this. But what I needed was a stage, and I got that. So I was all good, no matter what. If I fell on every jump, I would still be wearing this dress, so it’s all good.”
The TIME100 Sports Gala came just one night after Liu picked up the ESPY for Best Breakthrough Athlete at Lincoln Center.
Stay in the loop with Thought Catalog — follow us on Facebook or visit our website.
