Sign-In
Cart
Alysa Liu: On Her Own Terms
Paperback
Currently unavailable to order
Please enter your email and a message will be sent to you when this product becomes available on our website.
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Mar 8 2026
Pages: 212
Weight: 0.64
Height: 0.45 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
At sixteen, Alysa Liu was the most accomplished young figure skater in America: the youngest national champion in the sport's history, the first American woman to land three triple Axels in competition, an Olympian, a World medalist. Two weeks after that medal, she posted a lowercase goodbye on Instagram and walked away from all of it. She would later reach for a single word for what the sport had made of her. Not athlete. Not champion. Puppet.
Behind the records was a childhood spent as an instrument. Other people chose her programs, her music, the dresses she wore. Her body was weighed and optimized by adults she had not picked, and for two years she lived alone in a Colorado dorm, training in isolation until, she has said, a coach told her she could not drink water. By the time she left, the damage had a name, and she avoided the ice the way other people avoid the scene of an accident.
Then, almost three years later, she came back. Taller, older, on her own terms, with her own coaches and her own music and her own reasons. The comeback was so improbable that the first person she called to help her train spent three hours trying to talk her out of it. Eighteen months after she stepped onto a scuffed public rink to find out whether her body still remembered, she was a world champion. A year after that, in a gold dress under the lights of Milan, she won Olympic gold that no one had chosen for her and became the most famous skater on earth.
On Her Own Terms is the story of what happens after a prodigy burns down the life that was built for her. It traces the quiet war for control of a young woman's life: a father who fled China by boat after Tiananmen Square and built a million-dollar machine around his daughter, a government that courted and then surveilled her, and a sport that consumes its young and calls it development. It is a portrait of control and the cost of taking it back. A daughter, a dissident, and the most improbable comeback in modern figure skating.
Drawn entirely from the public record, this is an independent, unauthorized account, not affiliated with Alysa Liu, her family, or any skating federation.
Also from
Brockman, Jonathan
The World Cup 2026 Fan's Guide: Everything You Need to Know About the Biggest Tournament in Sports History
Brockman, Jonathan
Paperback
Also in
Ice Skating
Glitz & Grit: Beyond the Spotlight: Falling, Rising and Reinventing
Reeves Beleznay, Christine
Paperback
Outofshapeworthlessloser: A Memoir of Figure Skating, F*cking Up, and Figuring It Out
Gold, Gracie
Paperback
Adult Coloring Book: Stress Relieving Designs Animals, Mandalas, Flowers, Paisley Patterns And So Much More: Coloring Book For Adults
Coloring Books for Adults
Coloring Books for Adults Relaxation
Adult Coloring Books
Paperback
Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters
Ryan, Joan
Paperback
Adult Coloring Book: Vintage Mandala A Mindful Colouring Book with Flower and Animals
Coloring Books for Adults Relaxation
Paperback
Only with Passion: Figure Skating's Most Winning Champion on Competition and Life
Witt, Katarina
Paperback
The Science of Figure Skating: An Anthology of 28 Graphs for Kids, Teens, & Curious Adults
Schottenbauer, M.
Paperback
Blade Angels on Olympic Ice: Alysa Liu, Team USA, and the Defining Moments of the Milano Cortina 2026 Women's Final
Napoleon, Doug E.
Paperback
Speed Skating Drills & Skills: A Complete Training Guide for Technique, Power, Speed, Endurance & Race Strategy
Ingraham, Diverne J.
Paperback
Adult Coloring Book: Stress Relieving Designs Animals, Mandalas, Flowers, Paisley Patterns And So Much More: Coloring Book For Adults
Coloring Books for Adults
Coloring Books for Adults Relaxation
Adult Coloring Books
Paperback
Dollys and Friends Originals Figure Skating Paper Dolls: Fashion Dress Up Paper Doll Collection with Figure Skating and Ice Dance Costumes
Friends, Dollys and
Tinli, Basak
Paperback
Formacion deportiva en patinaje artistico: Investigacion en el campeonato del mundo de patinaje artistico sobre ruedas. Murcia, 2006
Ferragut Fiol, Carmen
Rodriguez Suarez, Nuria
Vila Suares, Maria Helena
Paperback
A Different Kind of Edge: Transitioning from Skater to Coach: A Guide to Figure Skating Foundations
Rensch, Jessica
Paperback
The Figure Skate: A Research into the Form of Blade Best Adapted to Curvilinear Skating
Vandervell, H. E.
Paperback
Anxiety Relief Adult Coloring Book: Over 100 Pages of Mindfulness and anti-stress Coloring To Soothe Anxiety featuring Beautiful and Magical Scenes, .
Adult Coloring Book
Adult Coloring Books
Kone, Aaron
Paperback
English Skating: Edges and Striking; Principle of Skating Turns; Combined Figure-Skating
Lowther, Henry C.
Paperback
English Skating: Edges and Striking; Principle of Skating Turns; Combined Figure-Skating
Lowther, Henry C.
Hardcover
The Ultimate Guide to Ice and Figure Skating Nutrition: Maximize Your Potential
Correa (Certified Sports Nutritionist)
Paperback
The Art and Soul of Ice Skating - LARGE PRINT EDITION (Large Print Edition)
Thompson, Dorothy
Paperback
Push Dick's Button: A Conversation on Skating from a Good Part of the Last Century--and a Little Tomfoolery
Button, Dick
Paperback
Valoracion antropometrica en patinaje artistico: Investigacion en el campeonato del mundo de patinaje artistico. Murcia, 2006
Abraldes Valeiras, Jose Arturo
Rodriguez Suarez, Nuria
Ferragut Fiol, Carmen
Paperback
Eileen Peerless Power Skating Method: The Art of Technique Applied to Hockey Skating
Peerless, Eileen
Paperback
Eileen Peerless Power Skating Method: The Art of Technique Applied to Hockey Skating
Peerless, Eileen
Hardcover
Combined Hand-In-Hand Figure-Skating (1904)
Doneraile, Algernon Edward St Leger
Thompson, Norcliffe G.
Cannan, F. Laura
Hardcover
Kiira Korpi: Surviving the Ruthless World of Championship Figure Skating
Korpi, Kiira
Nurminen, Jere
Paperback
The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating: The Ultimate Guide to Canadian Figure Skating History
Stevens, Ryan
Hardcover
The Figure Skating Psychology Workbook: How to Use Advanced Sports Psychology to Succeed in the Ice Rink
Uribe Masep, Danny
Paperback
Earthquake on the Ice: The Story of Legendary Figure Skater Yuzuru Hanyu
Dammerleigh, Estelle
Paperback
Speed Skating Mastery: A Complete Training System for Ice Speed Skating, Inline Skating & Quad Roller Speed
Ingraham, Diverne J.
Paperback
The Art Of Skating: Containing Many Figures Never Previously Described (1868)
Anderson, George
Paperback
Combined Hand-In-Hand Figure-Skating (1904)
Cannan, F. Laura
Doneraile, Algernon Edward St Leger
Thompson, Norcliffe G.
Paperback
The Game Birds Of The Coasts And Lakes Of The Northern States Of America. A Full Account Of The Sporting Along Our Sea-Shores And Inland Waters, With
Barnwell Roosevelt, Robert
Paperback
Where Snow Meets Sky: A Traveler's Tale of Skiing, Culture, and the World's Most Breathtaking Peaks
M. Slessor, Mary
Paperback
Snow Craft Ideas to Impress Anyone: Beautiful Things You Can Creat with Snow This Winter
Field, Tyler
Paperback
Earthquake on the Ice: The Story of Legendary Figure Skater Yuzuru Hanyu
Dammerleigh, Estelle
Hardcover