Alysa Liu’s Front Teeth: What You Need to Know

Eager fans of figure skating may have spotted something unique on Alysa Liu’s front teeth as she flashed a smile following her dazzling gold medal performance in the women’s free skate at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. This marked the U.S.’ first women’s figure skating medal in two decades!

The 20-year-old Gen Z figure skater’s distinctive style has been turning heads during the 2026 Winter Olympics, showcasing her alt-girl vibe with her striped hairstyle, bold eyeliner, and now, her piercing.

Yes, you saw it right— that small piece of metal on the upper teeth of the gold medalist is a piercing.

No, her teeth aren’t actually pierced. It’s a frenulum piercing, also known as a “smiley” piercing, that passes through a thin piece of tissue connecting the upper lip and gums.

Liu shared with NBC that she actually pierced her own frenulum with the assistance of her sister a little over two years ago.

“I had my sister hold up my lip, I looked in the mirror, and with my piercing needle, I put it through,” she recalled.

Despite how it looks, Liu assures that the pain level was a “zero out of 10.”

Switching gears to her hair, Liu mentioned that she traveled to the Midwest before the Olympics to get her signature striped hairstyle done. She revealed that she adds a stripe to her hair every year, and currently, she is flaunting three years’ worth of stripes.

“I needed salon-grade products, so I went to a salon in St. Louis,” Liu shared.

If there were an Olympic event for hair coloring, Liu’s stylist would have been a strong contender for the gold medal, given the flawless platinum stripes added to Liu’s naturally dark hair.

“This is exactly what I wanted,” Liu expressed.

This San Francisco Bay Area skater achieved her career-best score of 226.79 points in the women’s figure skating free skate, securing her gold medal at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.