We Just Saw the Creation of a New Kind of Figure Skating Hero

"So said U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu, directly into a television camera, upon finishing her gold medal-winning routine in Milan on Thursday. The 20-year-old from Oakland, making a triumphant return after stepping away from the sport because she had lost the joy in it, celebrated her near-flawless performance with a level of profanity and swagger more typical of a skate park than of an ice rink."

"It was a fitting moment for these Olympic Games, which have seen Team USA's two best women's singles skaters create a new blueprint for what a champion figure skater can look and sound like. Liu and 26-year-old Amber Glenn, who came in fifth after a dazzling performance on Thursday, are part of a trio of skaters who have dubbed themselves the "Blade Angels," a moniker chosen as a symbol of unity and friendship."

"The blade part evokes the cutthroat competition of the Games and the brute strength required to propel yourself around and above the ice, while angels plays on the gentle, sweetly feminine aesthetic that has long defined the sport for women. Liu and Glenn represent a stark departure from that norm. Glenn, the first openly queer woman to skate in women's singles at the Olympics, has cultivated an outspoken political streak."

Alysa Liu celebrated her gold-medal routine in Milan with a profanity-laced exclamation, marking a triumphant return after stepping away from the sport when she had lost its joy. The 20-year-old's near-flawless performance combined athletic power with swagger more typical of a skate park than an ice rink. Liu and 26-year-old Amber Glenn, who placed fifth after a dazzling skate, belong to a trio calling themselves the Blade Angels as a symbol of unity and friendship. The nickname contrasts the sport's cutthroat physical demands with its traditionally gentle, feminine aesthetic. Glenn is the first openly queer woman to compete in Olympic women's singles and has an outspoken political streak. Liu displays goth-style hair and a frenulum piercing; together they challenge the long-standing "ice princess" stereotype in figure skating.

Read at Slate Magazine