*This content was translated by AI.
There was a shocking history behind the victory of Alyssa Liu (20) who gave the U.S. the gold medal in women's figure skating for the first time in 24 years. The reality of overcoming persistent espionage by Chinese intelligence agencies has been revealed.
Citing an interview with Alyssa's father, Arthur Liu, British media 'GB News' reported on the 27th (Korea time) that "Olympic champion Alyssa Liu almost gave up figure skating completely after being targeted by Chinese intelligence agents."
Arthur, the father of Olympic figure skating gold medalist Alyssa, is a lawyer who defected to the United States after leading a pro-democracy movement as a student leader during the Tiananmen incident in 1989. Arthur revealed in a recent interview that "the Chinese Communist Party regime has been monitoring and threatening its own family since 2021."
He is a hero who has written Olympic history despite external pressure. Alyssa has emerged as a national hero by scoring 150.20 points in this Olympic free skating, winning the upset with a total score of 226.79.
However, Alyssa left the figure skating world due to shocking external pressure. Just a few years ago, it turned out that Alyssa had given up skating because of threats from China.
According to reports, Chinese intelligence agents worked relentlessly to push for a naturalization project to recruit Alyssa Liu as China's national representative. In October 2021, a 53-year-old man named Matthew Djiboutris, who deceived him as a U.S. Olympic Committee official, reportedly visited his California home in Rio and demanded a copy of his family's passport under the pretext of preparing for the international Games. Alyssa's father, Arthur, immediately kicked him out with suspicion, and a week later, the FBI officially confirmed that he was a Chinese agent.
It was revealed that the Chinese side even tried to install hidden cameras at their homes with GPS trackers on their vehicles to monitor Arthur Liu's movements. Arthur flatly refused, saying, "Given my background during the Tiananmen incident, I couldn't let my daughter play for China."
Eventually, as the threat intensified, the father and daughter took refuge on a plane, and Alyssa had to prepare for the 2022 Beijing Olympics in anxiety, away from her family at the training headquarters in Colorado Springs.
The serious trauma experienced in this process led to Alyssa's retirement. Shortly after winning the 2022 World Championship bronze medal at the age of 16, Alyssa abruptly announced her retirement on social media. "It seemed like Alyssa was suffering from PTSD," the father said, recalling the time. After leaving the figure skating world, Alyssa lived a normal life, studying psychology at UCLA and going on a trek to the Himalayas.
However, Alyssa, who regained her enthusiasm during a ski trip in January 2024, declared her return to active duty for the first time in two years and completed a great upset at the Olympics, performing seven triple jumps perfectly.
Meanwhile, the spy Djiboutris, who threatened the Rio family, was convicted of acting as a foreign government agent and conspiracy to commit conspiracy and faces up to 15 years in prison.
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*This content was translated by AI.


