After Simu Liu’s Viral Video, Olympic Skater Alysa Liu Confirms We’ve Been Pronouncing Her Name Wrong, Too

Not long ago, Simu Liu went viral for reminding the internet how to pronounce his name properly. The star jokingly explained that many people shorten or misread “Liu,” and the clip quickly spread across social media. Now it turns out he’s not the only famous Liu whose name people have been getting wrong, as the 2026 TV schedule and Olympic star Skater Alysa Liu confirms we’ve been pronouncing her name wrong, too.

Fresh off a huge moment at the 2026 Winter Olympics, figure skater Alysa Liu recently confirmed that plenty of fans and commentators have been mispronouncing her last name as well. The clarification came during a short interview clip shared by Newsweek on Instagram (see below), in which Liu was asked directly how her name should be pronounced.

Apparently, the gold-medal-winning athlete isn’t too bothered if people mispronounce her name. In fact, she admits it can be a bit tricky, which is why she doesn’t expect everyone to get it right. As Liu explained:

The timing of Liu’s explanation is especially funny given the recent attention around Simu Liu’s own pronunciation lesson. His video highlighted how Mandarin pronunciation can change meaning through subtle tonal shifts, meaning names that look simple in English can still be easy to misinterpret.

While the two Lius aren’t related, their shared experience shows how quickly a mispronunciation can spread once it’s picked up by media coverage or TV broadcasts. And in Alysa Liu’s case, people have been saying her name a lot lately.

Alysa Liu, 20, recently captured two gold medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, winning both the women’s singles figure skating event and the team competition. The victory was historic for the United States, marking the first American women’s singles gold medal in figure skating since Sarah Hughes won the event back in 2002.

That achievement instantly pushed Liu further into the spotlight. Suddenly, her name was appearing everywhere, which explains why the pronunciation conversation started gaining traction. Even so, Liu herself doesn’t seem too bothered by the mix-ups.

The skater has also been pretty open about navigating her sudden wave of fame. Despite her Olympic success, she’s previously said she doesn’t encourage people to chase titles or medals. Instead, she prefers to focus on storytelling through performance and on using skating to express emotion. Since returning home from Italy, Liu’s schedule has been packed with appearances and celebrations. But after what she described as a whirlwind few weeks, the athlete recently announced she would be stepping back from the upcoming world figure skating championships.

While Liu may be taking a short break from the spotlight, the same probably won’t be true for Simu Liu. The actor is part of the cast of Avengers: Doomsday, which already looks like it could be one of the biggest hits on the 2026 movie schedule. That means there’s a good chance we’ll be hearing his name a lot over the next couple of years, whether it’s during press tours, talk show appearances, or red carpet events. He’s already been one of the most enthusiastic members of the cast when it comes to hyping up Doomsday, regularly sharing stories and updates from the set.