Alysa Liu of the United States celebrates her gold medal after competing in the women’s free skate program in figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan on Feb. 19, 2026.

After a triumphant 2.5 weeks at the Winter Olympics in Milan, Oakland’s Alysa Liu is back in the Bay Area and feeling the love from her gold medal win.

Liu landed at San Francisco International Airport late Monday night and was given a special welcome home off her Delta Airlines connection from Atlanta. According to a viral TikTok video posted on Tuesday, Liu walked up the jet bridge to find gold balloons and tinsel curtains covering the doorway to the terminal. 

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“Alysa, your hard work, brilliance and passion have made all of us incredibly proud,” a Delta employee said on the plane’s intercom before Liu stepped off the flight. 

In another viral TikTok video posted Tuesday, two of Liu’s friends drove across the bay to pick her up at SFO on Monday night, with both friends’ cars needed to fit all the Olympic champion’s new gear. In the hilarious video, Liu is seen shoving her suitcases into the two cars and dancing and celebrating with her friends in the baggage claim area and in the parking lot.

On her first evening back home, Liu went to Alameda’s South Shore Center and dined at Italian restaurant Trabocco, according to a Facebook post from the restaurant. Owner and chef Giuseppe Naccarelli posed with Liu for two photos Tuesday night, including one where he served the gold medalist a tiramisu dessert with “Congratulations” written on it in chocolate. Liu was celebrated for her restaurant choice in the comments, with one person quipping, “She’s still craving real Italian food.”

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Liu became the first American woman to medal in the individual figure skating competition in 20 years (Sasha Cohen won silver in Turin, Italy, in 2006) and the first to win gold since 2002, when Sarah Hughes won in Salt Lake City. (Liu also won gold alongside her fellow Americans in the team competition, bringing home two gold medals from Milan.) The 20-year-old grew up training at the Oakland Ice Center and shouted out her hometown after her short program during the women’s individual figure skating competition last week. 

That hometown has shown her the love back, too. The historic Fentons Creamery has already offered Liu “ice cream for life” and said it has the sundaes “on standby” if she wants to host a homecoming party at their store. Oakland’s city government has put up a congratulatory post on five digital billboards throughout the city as well. The billboards have two images of Liu — one portrait with her gold medal and one image shot during her free skate program  — surrounding a photo of Oakland’s Lake Merritt.

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“Congrats Alysa! Oakland’s Hometown Hero!” the message on the billboard reads.

The city also announced Tuesday that it is planning to honor Liu with a “community-wide celebration,” though it didn’t have any specific details to share yet about the celebration.

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