She was joined at The Skating Club of Boston’s annual Ice Chips show by four local Olympians: USA’s Maxim Naumov and Emily Chan and Spencer Howe, and Estonia’s Aleksandr Selevko.
Liu’s contract to appear in Ice Chips was arranged early last year, and The Skating Club of Boston knew her appearance would be popular due to her World Championship victory at TD Garden last March. But when Liu won gold in Milan, interest in the show reached a fever pitch. One of the three shows sold out within a day of her win, with the other two following two days later.
Fans came from near and far to see Liu skate and meet her at a pre-show event.
For Dr. Shira Shiloah of Wayland, Liu’s unique personality brought her much-needed happiness after several down years.
“When I saw her joy that she just exudes on the ice, her absolute love of the sport and her love of performing and her connection with the audience, it was just charming,” said Shiloah. “It just made me so happy.”
Filmmaker Stafford Vaughan traveled from Seattle to see Liu skate and give her a curated basket of movies he made for her.
“For years I’ve been wanting like a young artist to essentially inspire the rest of the young artists and bring hope to me,” said Vaughan.
In addition to Vaughan’s basket, fans brought several pieces of fan art for Liu to autograph. Her Olympic gold medal victory inspired hundreds of pieces of art, from drawings, stop-motion animation, anime, and murals.
“I just want my art to inspire other art,” said Liu. “Other people’s art inspires me and I think that is the way it should be.”
Liu has attracted a new crowd of fans who previously had not considered figure skating a modern women’s sport. Her discussions about mental health and training on her own terms appealed to sports fans who previously concentrated their fandom on the WNBA, PWHL, and NWSL. Several admitted skating newcomers waiting in line to meet Liu donned shirts that read “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports.”
But skating fans and young skaters were there, too, celebrating the first American gold medalist in women’s skating since 2002. Clarisse Chang, a 5-year-old skater, was one of the first in line to meet Liu, asking her to sign her doll Mei Mei’s skates.
“I think she liked my doll,” said Chang.
Though her schedule is packed between her performances and several media appearances next week, Liu doesn’t classify her new life as an Olympic champion as a whirlwind.
“It is not really whirlwind at all,” said Liu. “Okay, I mean, I have tons of messages on my phone, but if I would just say in real life, it’s all good.”
The club’s other Olympians agreed with Liu. Returning from the Milan Winter Olympics was hectic, but it was welcomed.
“Not 10 steps go by without someone giving me a hug or someone yelling congratulations,” said Naumov. “It’s good to be back home and sleep in my own bed.”
The time at home might be short-lived for many of the US Olympians, as Liu’s victory has elevated the sport’s profile. Despite the increased attention, Liu doesn’t intend on changing anything about herself.
“I guess people like to see someone [pushing boundaries] on the world stage,” said Liu. “It’s not super normalized. It doesn’t happen quite often. I’m glad that I could be the one to do it.”
