A couple of stylish mirror selfies from Olympic gymnastics champion Suni Lee started a series of lighthearted, albeit slightly pointed, online banter and chatter after Alysa Liu’s historic triumph at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games.
At 20 years old, Liu performed a flawless free skate to Donna Summer’s music and bagged the gold medal in the ladies’ figure skating event, becoming the first American woman to claim the Olympic title since 2006.
Later that day, Lee, the 2020 Olympic all-around champion in gymnastics, posted mirror selfies on Instagram wearing a Team USA jacket. This led to a series of lighthearted, albeit slightly pointed, chatter and banter on social media about a possible shift in the spotlight from Liu to Lee, two of Team USA’s most popular Asian American female stars.
Some of the comments on Instagram were lighthearted and playful, with some saying that Liu had “snatched” Lee’s title of the “it girl” on the internet.
One of the comments read: “She’s tryna bounce back after getting her chain snatched lmao 😭.”
Another comment read: “She saw Alysa Liu hype and put on a USA jacket, women hate seeing other women get more attention than them lol.”
A third comment read: “She realized her status as the Asian-American athlete it girl is fading lol.”
However, some fans defended Lee, saying there was no need for a rivalry between the two female stars, since Liu had previously expressed admiration for Lee and had posted clips and photos of the two having fun together.
“There’s room for both,” said a fan, adding that the chatter was “manufactured.”
