TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Since capturing the Olympic gold medal, Alysa Liu’s name has remained in the spotlight. While her signature artistry and distinctive style on the ice draw the most attention, her remarkable journey is also closely tied to the unwavering support of her father, Arthur Liu.
Arthur Liu has been a guiding force throughout Alysa Liu’s career. He was the one who first introduced figure skating to the now 20-year-old athlete and has stood by her through every chapter of her path, from her first breakthrough at 13, to retiring at 16, and making a comeback at 19. Today, she has written her name in history as the first U.S. women’s figure skating Olympic gold medalist since 2002.
Here is everything you need to know about Arthur Liu, citing Today, Yahoo!, and People.
Who Is Arthur Liu?
Born in 1964, Arthur Liu moved to the Bay Area in California when he was 25 years old as a political refugee due to his involvement in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. He is one of six siblings, growing up in a village that he said had no electricity back in the day.
Before moving to the US, Liu earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from universities in China. In the US, he also earned a law degree from the University of California's Hastings College of Law, which helped him propel himself as a lawyer and start his own practice, Inter-Pacific Law Group Inc.
Arthur Liu as a Single Father to Five Surrogate-born Children
Arthur Liu welcomed Alysa Liu and her four siblings, sister Selena and triplets Julia, Justin, and Joshua, as a single father by choice. According to Today and People, quoting the San Francisco Chronicle in 2019, Liu shared that he had always wanted children, though he was 40 at the time.
He then decided to start a family in a non-traditional way, having children through a pair of surrogates using his sperm and anonymous egg donors. Alysa is two years older than her sister Selena, while the triplets are four years younger than her. All of the children were also helped raised by Arthur Liu’s mother, Shu, who moved to California from China for eight years.
As for whether Alysa learned about her roots, Arthur Liu said she found out about her birth story when she was eight years old.
How Arthur Liu Helped Guide Alysa Liu’s Figure Skating Path
Arthur Liu has been a pivotal figure in Alysa Liu’s figure skating career. When Alysa was five years old, Arthur Liu first discovered her natural talent for the sport and quickly reorganized her life around it, involving himself heavily in her training and development. Yahoo!, quoting CBS News, noted that Arthur spent between $500,000 and $1 million supporting his daughter’s skating journey.
From that early start, Alysa went on to make history. At just 13 years old, she became the youngest U.S. champion in history and the first American woman to land triple axels in competition. Yet what appeared to be a remarkable rise also led to an unexpected decision, her retirement at the age of 16.
According to People, Alysa once described her childhood as “abnormal,” noting that she was skating every day at the ages of 13 and 14. Much of that intense journey was tied to Arthur Liu’s deep involvement, so much so that Alysa once remarked that “it was basically his business. It wasn’t really mine.”
After years away from the rink, Alysa Liu laced up her skates and made a comeback in 2019. This time, however, Arthur Liu has taken a much smaller role in her career, allowing the skater to take greater control of her own path.
In a January 2026 interview with 60 Minutes, she explained, “He’s a great father, I just didn’t want him to be as invested in it as he was before.” She continued highlighting her greater control now, saying, “I get to pick my own program music, I get to help with the creative process of the program,” she told "60 Minutes." “If I feel like I’m skating too much, I’ll back down. If I feel like I’m not skating enough, I’ll ramp it up. No one is going to starve me, tell me what I can and can’t eat.”
Read: Eileen Gu Net Worth 2026: Olympic Career and Endorsements
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