Alysa Liu won the Best Breakthrough Athlete award at the 2026 ESPYs on Wednesday at Lincoln Center in New York, drawing what witnesses described as the loudest cheers of the night when her name was called, beating out Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, Las Vegas Raiders rookie Fernando Mendoza and Sharks center Macklin Celebrini.
Liu, 20, won two gold medals at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in February, individual women's figure skating and team event, becoming the first American woman to win an individual Olympic figure skating gold since Sarah Hughes in 2002.
Her Olympic performance to Laufey's song "Promise" went viral, a routine she and her team designed to mirror her personal journey of leaving the sport and returning on her own terms.
She had stepped away from competitive skating for two years before returning.
"First of all, I'm really honored to be given this award," Liu said in her acceptance speech. "I've been in my sport since I was 5 years old and I had some really rough times in it, I took two years off. So for me, this really feels like I broke through in my own way, for myself, and for my sport. I love being an athlete, I couldn't have done it without my team."
Liu became a national figure overnight after Milan Cortina.
A Grammy-winning artist subsequently featured her in a music video. She was photographed on the ESPYs red carpet in New York alongside Simone Biles, Eileen Gu and Sunisa Lee.
She is 20 years old, two years from walking away from the sport that gave her this moment.