The Olympic Games are often framed as the pinnacle of individual excellence, but every so often, they become something more intimate—family history unfolding in real time. At this Winter Games, that sense of shared destiny is especially vivid,

Alysa Liu probably cared the least of all the women in figure skating at the Milan Cortina Olympics about winning the gold medal. Maybe that is why she won it. The 20-year-old with the striped hair, prominent frenulum piercing and carefree attitude never showed any worry or strain when she took the ice for her free skate on Thursday night.