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Alysa Liu’s Hidden Back Tattoo Has Fans Thinking They’ve Cracked the Secret

Figure skating fans believe they'd figure out the meaning behind Olympic hero Alysa Liu's unexpected back tattoo.
Grant Young|
Alysa Liu (USA)
Alysa Liu (USA) | IMAGO / NurPhoto

One would imagine that USA figure skater Alysa Liu has entered a stratosphere of stardom that will likely never go away, at least until she decides to end her competitive career.

This is because the 20-year-old Liu is fresh off winning two gold medals at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. When she secured gold in the women's singles free skate program, she became the first Team USA women's figure skater to earn a medal since 2006 and the first to earn a gold medal since 2002.

Alysa Liu of Team United States
Alysa Liu of Team United States | IMAGO / ABACAPRESS

What's perhaps most impressive about Liu's rapid ascension into superstardom is that it isn't solely owed to what she can do on the ice. She has a charismatic and charming personality that perfectly fits her unique and eccentric appearance choices.

For example, many Americans had never seen a frenulum piercing before Liu started showing off what she calls her "smiley" in Italy. Now, one would imagine that there will be plenty of people getting frenulum piercings in the next couple of years because of Liu's impact on pop culture.

Alysa Liu of the United States
Alysa Liu of the United States | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

However, this new platform means that Liu is under a microscope in ways that she hasn't been before. This became very clear on February 26, when social media began going wild after a photo of a tattoo Liu has on her lower back surfaced.

It wasn't that Liu was intentionally trying to hide this tattoo; it just wasn't visible at any point in the Olympics. But that didn't keep fans from running wild about what the hidden meaning of her tattoo might be.

Alysa Liu’s Hidden Tattoo Sparks Yu-Gi-Oh Speculation

Some who saw the tattoo even believed it was a Baphomet, which is a controversial occult symbol. But a more common explanation (given Liu's personality) is now becoming a common theory: that it's a Yu-Gi-Oh card.

More specifically, some fans are convinced that Liu has the "Monster Reborn" tattoo on her lower back. And they're making this apparent on social media.

Ultimately, there's no way of knowing whether Liu's tattoo is indeed supposed to be "Monster Reborn" unless she comes out and confirms it directly.

Yet, given Liu's love for anime and the fact that a sort of career resurrection tattoo would make sense, given her own career arc (because she quit figure skating for several years after the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics). So perhaps that's the reasoning why Liu got this tattoo, if it is indeed the "Monster Reborn" Yu-Gi-Oh card.

Alysa Liu
Alysa Liu skates the Exhibition Gala at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games. | IMAGO / Gribaudi/ImagePhoto

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the Athlete Lifestyle, Women’s Basketball, the New York Mets, the Baltimore Orioles, the Chicago Cubs, and boxing for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years.

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