Alysa Liu to headline 'Stars on Ice' with Olympic gold medalists at UBS Arena

This winter Team USA won the gold medal in the figure skating team event at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games in Italy. Those skaters have returned home and will appear at UBS Arena in Elmont as part of the “Stifel Stars on Ice” tour on May 3.

Here are some of the gold medal Olympians who will be featured in the program.

ALYSA LIU

Four years ago, Alysa Liu quit ice skating despite becoming the youngest female skater to earn the intermediate gold medal at the 2016 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, when she was 10.

“Figure skating just didn’t feel fun anymore,” Liu, 20, said. “It was quite literally a job. I didn’t get to pick my own programs so I felt trapped because I couldn’t express myself.”

After gaining inspiration from skiing and missing the adrenaline skating gave her, Liu returned to the ice in the fall of 2024. By December, she picked up a gold medal at the 2024 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, Croatia, and placed first in the short program at the 2025 U.S. Championships. During the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina, Liu took home the gold medal for the women’s singles figure skating competition, making her the first American woman to win a gold medal in that event since Sarah Hughes, of Great Neck, in 2002.

“I loved being out there. People gave me a lot of support and love,” Liu said. “All I wanted to do was put on a good program and I reached my goal.”

Liu, who grew up in Oakland, California, is enjoying the group setting on the “Stars in Ice” tour, where she will solo skate to “Promise,” by Laufey, and “Stateside,” by PinkPantheress with Zara Larsson.

“We get to live together on a bus or a train, which is nice,” Liu said. “Typically, we all reside in different states and we don’t get to see each other. This is a fun experience, like camp.”

ILIA MALININ

Growing up the son of Olympic skaters Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, from Russia, Ilia Malinin spent a lot of time hanging out at the rink while growing up in Virginia.

“Originally, my parents didn’t want me to skate,” Malinin, 21, said. “One day I wanted to try it. I started recreationally just skating a few days a week, but I came to like it and wanted to compete.”

Malinin earned the nickname “Quad God” after becoming the first skater to successfully complete a quadruple axel in competition during the 2022 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic.

“It took a lot of time and practice. The physical part was hard as well as the mental part,” Malinin said. “I spent many hours working on the triple axel just to make sure I was very comfortable with it in order to add that extra rotation in.”

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, Malinin received his gold medal for Team USA in the figure skating team event. During his program, he pulled off his signature move, “The Raspberry Twist.”

“It’s a combination of a twist with a butterfly kick,” Malinin said. “Imagine doing a cartwheel without using your hands.”

During “Stars on Ice,” Malinin will skate to “I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” by Yungblud and a medley of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” with House of Pain’s “Jump Around.”

“In competition, you have a goal to be the best you can be, try to beat your old record and go for the medal,” Malinin said. “This tour is about going out and having a good time. The main goal is to be entertaining and give the audience something to appreciate.”

MADISON CHOCK AND EVAN BATES

The ice dancing duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates are known for their fluidity and palpable chemistry, which led them to achieving gold medals at both the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. Their successful union comes from a long-standing bond they share.

“We have been married since 2024, dating since 2016 and skating together since 2011, plus the friendship predates that,” Chock, 33, said. “There’s an unspoken language between us after all these years.”

Bates, 37, added, “Partnerships take time. You get in this rhythm and unspoken language with each other. We can communicate with just a squeeze of the hand or a look.”

The couple, who hails from Michigan, has a reputation for delivering stylized programs in costumes designed by Chock.

“We try to think outside the box when it comes to music, concepts and storytelling,” Bates said. “We’ve had some nontraditional programs. This past year we did one where I was the bull and Maddie was the matador. We love taking on a theme and bringing it to the ice.”

For “Stars on Ice,” the couple will be skating to “Paint It Black,” by Ramin Djawadi, as well as “Slide,” by James Bay. Bates said the crowd plays a big role in their performance.

“We really love feeling people’s energy and hearing them,” he said. “It becomes a synergy between the skaters and the audience. We vibe off each other. The rowdier, the better.”

OTHER OLYMPIC SKATERS

The program will also include performances from Olympic team gold medalist and reigning three-time U.S. champion Amber Glenn; Olympic team gold medalists and U.S. champions Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea; 2026 Olympic team member, world silver medalist and U.S. champion Isabeau Levito; Olympic team bronze medalist and U.S. champion Jason Brown; 2026 Olympian Andrew Torgashev and two-time Four Continents bronze medalists Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko.

By David J. Criblez

david.criblez@newsday.comDavidJCriblez

David J. Criblez is a reporter for Newsday's exploreLI, covering entertainment-related events from local music to stand-up comedy to festivals.