alysa liu

U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu made quite an impression at the Milan-Cortina Olympics with her unique style, her compelling backstory and, of course, her gold medals in the women’s singles competition — the first for an American woman since 2002 — and in the team event.

Her feats captured the attention of local artist Gustavo Zermeño Jr. He wanted to be sure to capture all of it in his new mural paying tribute to the 20-year-old athlete in Gardena.

“Obviously her winning gold was the main factor” in his choosing to paint Liu, Zermeño said.

But once the Mexican-American artist learned more about the Chinese-American skater, he found inspiration in other aspects of her life as well. That includes the Oakland native’s two-year retirement from the sport starting at age 16, her enrollment at UCLA and her decision to express herself in her own way.

“She’s first-generation American, just like myself,” Zermeño said. “So I feel like that tie, her going to UCLA, her stopping skating for awhile and then jumping back in and more being herself — you know, growing up in Venice, I feel like that’s what kind of made me an artist. Venice allowed me to be myself, be wacky on the boardwalk, artists, performers, stuff like that.

U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu poses with the gold medal she won in the women’s singles Feb. 19 at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.

(Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)

“So I feel like there were a lot of connections beyond her just winning the gold medal. But ultimately, I think she just deserves her flowers, man. She accomplished something, and I feel like her personality is what’s really garnering all this support from people.”

Zermeño was driving to get dinner near his home earlier this week and noticed a wall he thought would be perfect for his Liu-inspired project outside the Coe’s Glass & Mirror building at 15532 Crenshaw Blvd. It turned out that Zermeño casually knew the business owner, although Alex Lopez said he never realized his former next-door neighbor was a mural artist.

Still, Lopez approved the project immediately upon seeing samples of Zermeño’s work and a digitally created version of his idea for the Liu painting.

“I mean, I probably should have gone up the chain of command and asked the landlord’s permission, but I knew it was going to come out amazing,” Lopez said. “I just said, ‘Let’s go for it.’ The landlord came by this morning and loved the piece. He was really glad that we did it.”

Artist Gustavo Zermeno Jr. said he was inspired to paint a mural dedicated to U.S. skater Alysa Liu for reasons ‘beyond her just winning the gold medal.’

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

Zermeño started painting Tuesday and hopes to be finished early next week. The mural will feature three images of Liu, including two of her skating, but the centerpiece is a larger-than-life headshot of her from the women’s singles medal ceremony.

In it, the halo-haired athlete smiles broadly as she pretends to take a bite out of her gold medal, putting on full display her now-famous “smiley” piercing in the tissue connecting her upper lip to her gums.

‘I think it really represents her personality and where she’s from, the Bay Area,’ artist Gustavo Zermeño Jr. said of his mural dedicated to U.S. skater and Oakland native Alysa Liu.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

“I like that it’s a little rough around the edges, but beautiful at the same time,” Zermeño said of the portrait. “I think it really represents her personality and where she’s from, the Bay Area. And so I feel like it just looks, you know, a little hood but at the same time, her being a figure skater, has that softness to it. And that’s kind of what I wanted.”

Lopez added: “I love it. Just her in general, as a person, I think she’s great. What she was able to accomplish in the Olympics is amazing for the United States and just for California. I’m honored to have her mural here. I feel like it represents the community and our business really well.”

MILAN — She’s the only U.S. skater still in medal contention. Alysa Liu is the last person to care.

The unbothered 20-year-old is the only American who finished in the top six of the women’s short program Tuesday and is holding the weight of an Olympic medal drought that’s as old as she is. But after placing third in the short program, she said she hadn’t even looked at the standings. She is angling more for an invitation to the post-competition gala than a medal.

“A medal?” Liu asked with a sarcastic scoff and giggle. “I don’t need a medal. I just need to be here, and I just need to be present. And I need people to see what I do next.”

Next will be the women’s free skate Thursday, where Liu will try to be the first U.S. woman to stand on an Olympic podium for singles figure skating since Sasha Cohen in 2006.

The United States entered the Milan-Cortina Games with three strong contenders to end the drought, but will need comeback performances from the other two “Blade Angels.”

Alysa Liu is the top hope for the U.S. in women’s singles figure skating after finishing third in the short program.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Isabeau Levito skated cleanly in her Olympic debut but finished the short program in eighth with 70.84 points, almost eight points back from leader Ami Nakai’s 78.71.

Amber Glenn appeared poised to join Liu in medal contention after she started her “Like a Prayer” program with a steady triple axel. Looking inspired from a good luck message from Madonna this week, Glenn executed a strong triple-triple combination with her second jumping pass. The crowd at Milano Ice Skating arena roared.

Then Glenn popped her last planned triple jump. She earned zero points on the element. Her face fell immediately.

Glenn went through the motions of her step sequence but she looked lifeless, and after her program, she clutched the necklaces on her burgundy lace dress and knelt at center ice. She broke down in tears when she hugged her coach.

“I had it,” Glenn said through sobs.

With 67.39 points in 13th place, the three-time national champion is well outside the medal race led by Nakai and three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto, who is in second with 77.23 points. Levito, skating in her mother’s hometown and paying homage to iconic Italian actress Sophia Loren with her short program, is less than six points out of podium position behind Liu’s 76.59 points.

Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart, wearing bedazzled headphones in a booth at the top of the arena, were shown on the video screen after Glenn’s skate clapping for her performance. U.S. teammate Ilia Malinin cheered behind them.

Malinin could empathize as Glenn held back tears on the ice. The United States won the team figure skating competition with a dramatic one-point victory but hasn’t secured any of the individual gold medals that appeared likely. Malinin, whose free skate collapse was one of the most stunning moments of the Milan-Cortina Games, cited the intense Olympic pressure.

Isabeau Levito competes during the women’s short program Tuesday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

After a shaky performance in the team competition, Glenn tried to escape the spotlight by training with U.S. teammates at a facility in Bergamo, 50 minutes outside of Milan. She tried to commit to rest and recovery and shy away from social media. She said after training Monday that she felt physically strong and had refocused enough to make the competition feel like any other world championship.

Knowing how hard it was for Glenn to get one jump away from putting herself into medal contention made the sight of her mistake all the more painful for Liu.

“She works so freaking hard,” Liu said after seeing Glenn’s skate on TV screens in the interview area. “Genuinely, such a hard worker, and she’s overcome a lot, and I just want her to be happy.”

Liu received some of the loudest applause of the night. Before beginning her program, she skated by the boards and high-fived both of her coaches, who hugged and hopped for joy when Liu executed her tricky triple lutz-triple loop combination jump. After hitting her ending pose, Liu covered her face to hide the tears that often well up in her eyes after her program set to “Promise.”

The reigning world champion returned to her second Olympics seemingly oblivious to any sort of pressure after a two-year retirement changed her perspective on skating. In Beijing, she was a 16-year-old who skated as she was told. She executed the jumps, performed to the music and wore the costumes that she was given.

But she laid the road to Milan all by herself and on her own terms.

One strong free skate away from her first individual Olympic medal — and second overall after helping the United States to team gold last week — Liu can’t be bothered to fret about how she’ll prepare for her last Olympic competition. Instead, she said she wants fans to see her new gala program.

A new dress just arrived and the choreography is almost done. All she needs is an invitation.