Alysa Liu was one of the remaining Team USA stars who attended Sunday’s closing ceremony of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. The 20-year-old was seated with the rest of her figure skating teammates as International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry delivered her closing remarks.
The camera caught a genuine moment involving Liu during the broadcast. After an extremely busy past few days for the American figure skater, Liu showed signs of fatigue during the closing ceremony. A video of Liu’s actions during Coventry’s speech is currently circulating online and has quickly drawn the attention of fans on social media.
James Lang-Imagn Images
Liu had a packed schedule for the Winter Games. She helped lead Team USA to a gold medal in the team event. This was followed by a second gold medal in the women’s individual free skate. Liu is the first female American figure skater to win gold in an individual event in the Olympics since 2002.
Liu also performed in the Figure Skating Exhibition Gala alongside some of the top skaters in the Games. Between her events, the Clovis, California, native gave dozens of press interviews. In one of her appearances, a visibly exhausted Liu lay down on the couch to get some rest.
Liu’s weariness carried over to the closing ceremony on Sunday. The 2025 World Figure Skating champion was seen yawning right as she was shown on the broadcast.
Liu’s actions stole the spotlight on social media.
“She was really honest when she said she was first gonna sleep at the end of the Olympics 😂” a reaction on Instagram read.
“I love all the videos in the the past 2 days I’ve seen of her sleeping, lying down or yawning 😂” another said.
“our tired queen needs some sleep,” declared a supporter.
“You know what… She earned that yawn fair and square 🏅” a comment read.
“Mood. I bet she’s exhausted!” said another.
“I already knew she probably was getting little sleep and now that she said it in an interview I can't unsee it she's so relatable😭🫶” a fan wrote.
Social media was very forgiving of Liu’s actions, considering everything she’s been through in the Games. It has been a whirlwind over the past three weeks or so for Liu, and it is clear that the fatigue is catching up to her.
As one comment said, however, the two-time Olympic gold medalist certainly deserves some rest.