By Jason Cruz
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
The Winter Olympics is set to start on Friday in Milan, Italy. There will be a strong contingent of Asian American and Pacific Islanders representing the United States.
Alysa Liu skates during the “Making Team USA” performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alysa Liu returns from an absence in the figure skating world back to center stage of the Olympics. The 20-year-old from California returned to competitive skating in March 2024 after a two-year retirement. She won the 2025 World Championships in Boston. Liu has been skating since she was age 5. Her father, who was a political dissident and left China during the Tiananmen Square protests, moved to the Bay Area. An attorney, he built a practice in America and had five kids via anonymous egg donors. Her father controlled much of her career as a youth, including hiring and firing coaches. He stated in a “60 Minutes” interview that he spent close to $1 million on Alysa’s training.
She was just 13 years old when she won the U.S. Championships in 2019. She won them again in 2020 at the age of 14. After a disappointing 2022 Winter Olympics followed up by an inauspicious bronze medal at the U.S. Championships, Liu abruptly retired.
She then traveled and attended UCLA for two years. However, in March 2024, she announced that she was “back on the ice.” At 20 years old, Liu is mature and is in control of her career. Her return has given her a renewed focus and it would not be surprising if she takes the gold medal in women’s figure skating.
FILE – Gold medal winner Chloe Kim, of the United States, celebrates during the venue ceremony for the women’s halfpipe at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 10, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
Despite suffering an injury scare during training right before the Olympics, Chloe Kim is set to defend her double gold medals in the women’s halfpipe in Milano Cortina. The 25-year-old Southern California native has won gold medals in the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Kim was the first female to land a 1260 in the halfpipe competition and the first athlete to win titles at all four major snowboarding events: the Olympics, Youth Winter Olympics, X Games, and FIS World Championships.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the “Making the Team” performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Ice dancer Madison Chock and her partner (and husband) Evan Bates will try to win a second gold medal at the Olympics. The 33-year-old Chock began skating at age 5 and was suggested to try ice dancing at 12 years old. She started to competitively ice dance with a partner in 2006. She moved her way through the junior circuit, winning gold at the World Junior Championships among other accolades. She began to partner with Bates in 2011 to success. They made their first appearance at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia where they placed 8th overall. They returned to the Olympics in 2018, but an injury to Chock and a fall during their routine ended their dream of a medal. But, in 2022 in Beijing, Shock and Bates won a gold medal in the team competition. Chock is of Hawaiian Chinese, German, English, Dutch, French, and Irish descent.
Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe pose for a picture at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Emily Chan will make her Olympic debut in Milano Cortina. The 28-year-old McKinney, Texas native skated as a single competitor from 2015 to 2018 and then switched to pair skating in 2020. Her and her partner, Spencer Akira Howe, have set up a GoFundMe to help offset their training expenses in preparation for the Olympics. According to the GoFundMe, “Coaching expenses, choreography, travel, and training costs add up quickly. While significant effort goes into supporting ongoing training, these costs continue to grow. This fundraiser is intended to help continue pursuing goals and pushing limits within the sport.”
Howe, 29, is from Burbank, California born to an American father and Japanese mother. He began skating at the age of 9 following the footsteps of his older sister. Howe has skated for the U.S. since 2013. He briefly represented Japan while he skated with partner Ami Koga in junior competition in 2016-2017 and then came back to represent the United States in competition in 2017. It will be his first Olympics.
Eunice Lee (16) competes in the women’s 1000-meter quarterfinal during the U.S. Olympic short track speedskating trials Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021, in Kearns, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Short track speed skater Eunice Lee enters her second Olympic Games. Lee grew up in Bellevue where she and her brother and sister joined the Puget Sound Speedskating Club. She is coached by Chang Lee, who also coaches Olympian Corie Stoddard. Lee is a student at Duke where she studies chemistry and biology in hopes of one day becoming a doctor.
Andrew Heo (From Instagram/imandrewheo)
24-year-old Andy Heo is making his second appearance in the Olympic Games. The Warrington, Pennsylvania native made the national team as a 17-year-old and competed in the Beijing Games in 2022. The son of South Korean immigrants, his older brother and cousins competed in speedskating. Heo earned a World Tour gold medal in short track speedskating last year. It was the first for the U.S. in 11 years.
United State’s Brandon Kim competes in the 500m Men Repechage semifinal Short Track Speed Skating in the ISU World Short Track Championships Beijing, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Another short track speedskater, 24-year-old Brandon Kim, will be participating in his first Olympic Games. Kim grew up in Fairfax, Virginia, where he decided to try speedskating after watching the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. He won a bronze medal at the World Junior Short Track Speedskating Championships as part of the men’s relay. Kim attends Stanford University and plans to attend medical school. He took a year off from Stanford to prepare for the Olympics.
Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea of the United States skate in the Pairs Short Program in the 2025 Skate Canada International event in Saskatoon, on Friday, October 31, 2025. (Matt Smith/The Canadian Press via AP)
Pairs figure skater Ellie Kam will be taking part in her first Olympics, along with partner Danny O’Shea. The 21-year-old Kam was born on Yokota Air Base in Japan. Her mother is Japanese and father is of Hawaiian and Chinese descent. Kam started skating at the age of 4. She switched from singles skating to skating with a partner in 2022. She started to skate with her current partner O’Shea in 2022. Kam is a student at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, where she majors in health science. In addition, she designs the skating costumes for herself and O’Shea.
The Milano Cortina Olympics opening ceremony will be held on Feb. 6, and culminating with the closing ceremony on Feb. 22.
Jason can be reached at newstips@nwasianweekly.com.