Published 26 February 2026
After the snow settles
"You can control what you think. You can control how you think, and therefore, you can control who you are. How cool is that?"
Eileen Gu
And just like that, the 2026 Winter Olympics has wrapped. What a legacy these athletes have left in Milano Cortina.
As we metaphorically kick off our ski boots this week, we’d love to celebrate three women who gifted the world with some powerful examples of Agency, Acceptance and Appreciation.
There’s a reason these 3 mindset muscles are the foundation of our Unlocking Perspective program. (Which, by the way, you can jump straight into today via our free trial of the first module!)
Let’s look at how those AAA’s played out in the final chapter of the Games:
Alysa Liu
Alysa Liu began figure skating at 5 years old. By 13, she was the youngest U.S. National Champion in history, and by 16, she’d become a Beijing Olympian - one who was also struggling behind the scenes with the weight of pressure, expectations and pain from a gruelling training schedule.
Skating was something she’d always done with intense rigour, with her father and a rotating team of coaches taking her from one rink to another around the world.
Put simply, skating was something she did. But it couldn’t speak to who Alysa was. Alysa the human-being, not just the human-doing.
When COVID brought an unexpected pause to training, the relief she felt told her everything. So at 16, Alysa retired. Packed away her skates and set off on the next chapter of her hero’s journey.
She hiked to Everest base camp, got her driver’s licence, enrolled at UCLA, picked up photography, and for the first time had the space to simply live her life. “[It] allowed me to see the full picture,” she now muses.
Fast forward to 2024. Alysa goes skiing with friends. Nothing serious, just a bit of fun. Somewhere on that mountain, something stirs. She finds herself at a rink, laces up, and despite not setting foot on the ice in two years, lands a double axel. Clean, like she’d never left. The pull was undeniable.
She called her coach that same day and said she was coming back, but this time, entirely on her own terms: her music, her choreography, her style of self-expression.
Alysa Liu began figure skating at 5 years old. By 13, she was the youngest U.S. National Champion in history, and by 16, she’d become a Beijing Olympian - one who was also struggling behind the scenes with the weight of pressure, expectations and pain from a gruelling training schedule.
Skating was something she’d always done with intense rigour, with her father and a rotating team of coaches taking her from one rink to another around the world.
Put simply, skating was something she did. But it couldn’t speak to who Alysa was. Alysa the human-being, not just the human-doing.
When COVID brought an unexpected pause to training, the relief she felt told her everything. So at 16, Alysa retired. Packed away her skates and set off on the next chapter of her hero’s journey.
She hiked to Everest base camp, got her driver’s licence, enrolled at UCLA, picked up photography, and for the first time had the space to simply live her life. “[It] allowed me to see the full picture,” she now muses.
Fast forward to 2024. Alysa goes skiing with friends. Nothing serious, just a bit of fun. Somewhere on that mountain, something stirs. She finds herself at a rink, laces up, and despite not setting foot on the ice in two years, lands a double axel. Clean, like she’d never left. The pull was undeniable.
She called her coach that same day and said she was coming back, but this time, entirely on her own terms: her music, her choreography, her style of self-expression.
To many, it seemed like an impossible decision. Nobody returns from two years off and makes the Olympics.
Well, Alysa carried on regardless and went on to win the 2025 World Championships. And this year at Milano Cortina, she arrived with a different energy to almost every other skater in the field.
She knew she didn’t need a medal. She just wanted to be there and show people what she could do.
She’d learned to accept what was beyond her control, and fully embrace what was hers to own.
“So many things haven’t gone my way. So I just said screw it and did what I wanted to do” — Alysa Liu
Alysa couldn’t control the judges, the other skaters, or what the world would make of her comeback. What she could control was how she approached her training, and the fun she could have whilst exploring her potential.
Joy was going to be the ultimate superpower.
I get to do this. On my terms.
Gold wasn’t the point… but it followed anyway.
Well, Alysa carried on regardless and went on to win the 2025 World Championships. And this year at Milano Cortina, she arrived with a different energy to almost every other skater in the field.
She knew she didn’t need a medal. She just wanted to be there and show people what she could do.
She’d learned to accept what was beyond her control, and fully embrace what was hers to own.
“So many things haven’t gone my way. So I just said screw it and did what I wanted to do” — Alysa Liu
Alysa couldn’t control the judges, the other skaters, or what the world would make of her comeback. What she could control was how she approached her training, and the fun she could have whilst exploring her potential.
Joy was going to be the ultimate superpower.
I get to do this. On my terms.
Gold wasn’t the point… but it followed anyway.
Eileen Gu
Last Friday we shared Eileen’s brilliant press conference moment about redefining success. This week she gave us all a complete masterclass in Agency.
“This isn’t supposed to be a rude question, but do you think before you speak? Because you answer questions so quickly and so comprehensively,” a reporter asked. “Can you take us into your brain?”
No surprises here, but Eileen is a deep thinker. She shared her love of journalling and mindset ‘tinkering.’
“I spend a lot of time in my head. And it’s not a bad place to be. I break down all of my thought processes and apply a very analytical lens to my own thinking, and I kind of modify it. Because it’s so interesting: you can control what you think. You can control how you think, and therefore you can control who you are… With neuroplasticity on my side, I can literally become exactly who I want to be. How cool is that?” — Eileen Gu
Last Friday we shared Eileen’s brilliant press conference moment about redefining success. This week she gave us all a complete masterclass in Agency.
“This isn’t supposed to be a rude question, but do you think before you speak? Because you answer questions so quickly and so comprehensively,” a reporter asked. “Can you take us into your brain?”
No surprises here, but Eileen is a deep thinker. She shared her love of journalling and mindset ‘tinkering.’
“I spend a lot of time in my head. And it’s not a bad place to be. I break down all of my thought processes and apply a very analytical lens to my own thinking, and I kind of modify it. Because it’s so interesting: you can control what you think. You can control how you think, and therefore you can control who you are… With neuroplasticity on my side, I can literally become exactly who I want to be. How cool is that?” — Eileen Gu
Eileen has discovered that every day is an opportunity to become “the kind of person her 8 year old self would revere. And I think that’s the biggest flex of all time!”
That’s not ego right there, that’s authenticity, and using your younger self as a unique kind of anchor. A place to come home to, no matter how noisy or distracting the outside world may be.
It’s a way of measuring success in a beautiful, holistic way: What would make little me proud? What would 8 year old me be surprised and excited by, today?
This is an exceptional example of an athlete approaching their sport the same way they approach their life — with curiosity, precision and a love of learning.
Eileen closed the 2026 Games as the most decorated female free skier in history, with five Olympic medals to her name. The results are extraordinary, but so too is the inner work that makes it all possible.
That’s not ego right there, that’s authenticity, and using your younger self as a unique kind of anchor. A place to come home to, no matter how noisy or distracting the outside world may be.
It’s a way of measuring success in a beautiful, holistic way: What would make little me proud? What would 8 year old me be surprised and excited by, today?
This is an exceptional example of an athlete approaching their sport the same way they approach their life — with curiosity, precision and a love of learning.
Eileen closed the 2026 Games as the most decorated female free skier in history, with five Olympic medals to her name. The results are extraordinary, but so too is the inner work that makes it all possible.
Elana Meyers Taylor
Some wins feel bigger than sport. This is one of them.
Elana Meyers Taylor had won almost everything there is to win in bobsleigh. Four world championship titles, multiple Olympics, five podium finishes. At 41, competing at her fifth Games, she became the oldest individual champion at a Winter Olympics, and the first mother to win Olympic bobsleigh gold.
But that’s just the headline the media hooks onto. The story behind the story is even more special.
A few weeks before Christmas, Elana was preparing for a World Cup bobsled weekend in Norway, and things weren’t quite going to plan. She was in physical agony, wondering if she was doing right by her two deaf children, and the results weren’t stacking up.
“This is impossible. I’m done. It’s never going to work,” she texted to her husband.
Nic, a former bobsledder himself, jumped on a plane to talk her out of quitting. The 2026 Winter Olympics were barely two months away.
When Milano Cortina rolled around, Elana was back and fighting for her dream. She flew down the monobob track and crossed the line to secure gold by 0.04 seconds.
Some wins feel bigger than sport. This is one of them.
Elana Meyers Taylor had won almost everything there is to win in bobsleigh. Four world championship titles, multiple Olympics, five podium finishes. At 41, competing at her fifth Games, she became the oldest individual champion at a Winter Olympics, and the first mother to win Olympic bobsleigh gold.
But that’s just the headline the media hooks onto. The story behind the story is even more special.
A few weeks before Christmas, Elana was preparing for a World Cup bobsled weekend in Norway, and things weren’t quite going to plan. She was in physical agony, wondering if she was doing right by her two deaf children, and the results weren’t stacking up.
“This is impossible. I’m done. It’s never going to work,” she texted to her husband.
Nic, a former bobsledder himself, jumped on a plane to talk her out of quitting. The 2026 Winter Olympics were barely two months away.
When Milano Cortina rolled around, Elana was back and fighting for her dream. She flew down the monobob track and crossed the line to secure gold by 0.04 seconds.
The moment of confirmation is moving for many reasons, not least because the first person Elana embraced wasn’t a coach. It was her nanny, Macy.
She then turned to the stands where her two boys were watching, and signed the word ‘champion’ to them. They’d practised it together, just in case. This win was one for the whole family, a team who travels the circuit together for months at a time.
As the saying goes, it really does take a village.
“This medal is also for all those mums who weren’t necessarily able to live their dreams, but their kids are now their dreams. Those people kept me going.” — Elana Meyers Taylor
When asked what’s next, she didn’t miss a beat. And we love this as much as the win itself: in six days, she’s got school pickups in Texas.
Life goes on, after all, even after the highest of highs. A great reminder of why it’s so important to ground our success and sense of purpose with intrinsic motivations.
The simple moments are just as meaningful and precious as the ones on the podium.
She then turned to the stands where her two boys were watching, and signed the word ‘champion’ to them. They’d practised it together, just in case. This win was one for the whole family, a team who travels the circuit together for months at a time.
As the saying goes, it really does take a village.
“This medal is also for all those mums who weren’t necessarily able to live their dreams, but their kids are now their dreams. Those people kept me going.” — Elana Meyers Taylor
When asked what’s next, she didn’t miss a beat. And we love this as much as the win itself: in six days, she’s got school pickups in Texas.
Life goes on, after all, even after the highest of highs. A great reminder of why it’s so important to ground our success and sense of purpose with intrinsic motivations.
The simple moments are just as meaningful and precious as the ones on the podium.
