Alysa Liu Defeats JD Vance’s Motorcade to Put U.S. Figure Skating in the Lead for Olympic Gold 

Friday marked the start of competition for the greatest winter sport ever conceived: Figure Skating. Kicking off one of the only reasons many people even tune into the Winter Olympics (just kidding, kind of) is the figure skating team event, where ten countries compete in eight events—including the men’s short program, women’s free skate, and ice dance rhythm dance—for a total team score. But one of Team USA’s figure skaters nearly missed her performance because a certain U.S. official who could win an Olympic gold for smuggest mug just had to attend the event. 

Alysa Liu, along with her coach and choreographer, were stuck on an Olympic bus Friday afternoon, blocked from the rink by Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade. “We almost didn’t make it,” her coach, Phillip DiGuglielmo, later said, per the Washington Post. Vance really is like a traveling, oozing sore. 

But Liu, who was competing in the women’s short program, made it just in time and delivered a stunning, flawless routine to “Promise” by Laufey. The NBC commentator said she “delivered on all levels” and was “like sunlight breaking through.” She finished second behind  Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto, but her score put the U.S. in a two-point lead over Japan and a three-point margin over Italy. The Post noted that her coach and choreographer still seemed rattled over nearly missing the event by the end of the night.

In 2019, Liu became the youngest-ever U.S. national champion at 13. But after finishing sixth in the 2022 Beijing Winter Games and winning bronze at the 2022 World Figure Skating championship, she retired at just 16 and went on to live what she called a “normal, teenage-girl, older-sister life.” She eventually realized how much she missed the rush of competition and announced her return in March 2024, then won the 2025 World Championships. Now 20, she’s favored to medal, if not win gold. I got chills from typing all that!

Also in the team event on Friday, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the world champion dance team, took first, and Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, the pairs team, took fifth. Ilia Malinin will perform the men’s short program on Saturday. He’s nicknamed the “Quad God” because he’s the only figure skater ever to land a quadruple axel—the sport’s most difficult jump—in competition, and he hasn’t lost a competition in two years.

After the figure skating event, Vance attended the opening ceremonies for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games, where he and his wife, Usha Vance, were reportedly booed when Team USA entered during the parade of nations. (Those in attendance also reported plenty of cheers and support for Team USA.) It’s almost like being half in charge of a country where federal agents have shot and killed two U.S. citizens and continue to deport anyone they please makes you unpopular with the rest of the world. Who’da thunk.