Alysa Liu is taking a break from figure skating, but not because she’s burned out.
The 21-year-old Olympic champion wrote on Instagram that she will be away next season to focus on personal growth and fine-tune her skating and artistry.
She told NBC Sports on Tuesday: “I really want to improve my skating, and I wanted to take the time to do that for myself and just evolve, and then I’ll come back after that’s done.”
It’s not unusual for a public figure to announce a break from work, but it’s almost always for health or personal reasons. Earlier this month, Ariana GrandeThe company’s people announced that she would be taking a break amid “endless, ongoing public scrutiny.” Simone Biles stepped away from gymnastics for two years until 2023 due to mental health concerns.
Liu apparently does the opposite: pacing so she doesn’t run into the ground. This is especially notable for an athlete, whose careers tend to be shorter.
Taking a step back while at the top of your game may seem counterintuitive, but her career trajectory suggests the opposite.
A preventive break
Liu retired from figure skating in 2022 at the age of 16, but returned two years later, with renewed vigor, and took gold at the 2025 World Championships. She went on to win two gold medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.
“I loved that I could come back and choose my own destiny,” Liu said Olympics.com at the time. “I chose to be here,” she said.
Looking back on the first time she stepped back, Liu said in interviews that she was burned out, miserable and felt disenfranchised at the time.
“I really hated skating when I quit. I really didn’t like it,” Liu told the Associated Press in February. “I didn’t care about competitions. I didn’t care about places. I didn’t care about skaters. I didn’t care about my programs. I just wanted to get away.”
This time her tone is different. “I always want to challenge myself in new ways so that my artistry and skating can evolve. It’s important to me that my sport reflects my personal growth. I’m going to take the time to recalibrate, refine and all that,” Liu wrote in an Instagram caption on August 26.
Liu’s pre-emptive career break comes amid a moment of tension between companies in their “hardcore era,” and employees reevaluating their commitment to work. This summer, a series of tech executives cited health concerns in their… notices of dismissalSome were shocked that their bodies couldn’t keep up with their work ethic.
We all know rest is important, but it can be tempting to burn the candle at both ends to get things done and push aside the possible long-term consequences.
“Grit and endurance aren’t the only skills needed to make an impact for decades,” Fiji Simowrote X in July when she resigned as CEO of AGI at OpenAI. “Sometimes it’s harder to stop, listen and trust that taking care of yourself today will make it possible to contribute for much longer tomorrow.”
Thanks to Liu’s winning streak and stealing the nation’s hearts with her maverick Gen Z aura and zest for life, you’d expect her to keep striking while the iron is hot. Her decision not to do so could be the reason she continues to win in the years to come.
