Next Move — A Shared Plan and a Personal Redemption After the Olympic Closing Ceremony lights dimmed, Alysa Liu and Ilia Malinin quietly revealed they’re looking toward the same next chapter — a future built not just on medals, but on evolution. For Liu, fresh off triumph, it’s about protecting the joy that carried her to gold. For Malinin, still processing the sting of missed expectations, it’s about redemption — returning stronger, sharper, and unfinished. Different emotional endings in Milan, yet a shared resolve moving forward. The Games may be over, but for both stars, the real next act is only beginning.

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As the curtain fell on the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, two of Team USA’s biggest figure skating stars made it clear: they are not going anywhere.

For Alysa Liu, the Olympic Closing Ceremony marked not an ending, but a renewed beginning.

Just four years ago in Beijing, Liu left the Games feeling burned out and ready to step away from skating. At 16, she believed her career was over. But Milan told a very different story. Liu leaves Italy with two gold medals, millions of new fans, and — most importantly — a restored love for the sport.

Figure skaters Alysa Liu, Ilia Malinin talk world championship wins

Speaking during the Closing Ceremony, Liu confirmed she has no plans to retire.

“Yeah, I have no plans to leave yet,” she said in an interview with NBC. “I can’t imagine not skating next year.”

Now the reigning world champion, Liu is already looking ahead to next month’s World Championships in Prague, where she will attempt to defend her title. More than medals, however, she emphasized joy.

Alysa Liu: A carefree, joyous, gold-medal performance proves it: There's no one in figure skating like her | CNN

“Definitely not a job,” Liu said when asked how her perspective has changed since Beijing. “I just feel so lucky I get to do this. I love being an athlete. It’s the coolest thing in the world.”

While Liu leaves Milan at “peak happiness,” her teammate Ilia Malinin departs with a different motivation — redemption.

The 21-year-old two-time world champion arrived at the Games as a heavy favorite for gold in the men’s event. Instead, a fall in the free skate and several uncharacteristic mistakes dropped him to eighth place, stunning fans and analysts alike.

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In comments reported by Newsweek, Malinin made it clear he sees the setback as fuel.

“For the future, there’s so much planned, no matter how these Olympics went,” he said. “My next goal is to have a redemption skate at the World Championships.”

Malinin, who famously became the first skater to land a fully rotated quadruple Axel in competition in 2022, has already reshaped modern men’s skating with his technical ambition. Now, he says, he wants to push the sport even further — not just by winning, but by changing how it is viewed.

Both skaters, despite vastly different Olympic journeys, now share the same immediate plan: return to competition next season and target the World Championships.

For Liu, it is about continuing the joy she rediscovered.

For Malinin, it is about proving that one painful night does not define a career.

As Milano Cortina 2026 closes, Team USA’s brightest figure skating stars are already focused on what comes next — and neither sounds ready to step away from the ice anytime soon.