Asian women are the future of sports
Sports culture is becoming more welcoming and healthy for all athletes, and Asian women are leading the way
Photos by FloweringDagwood/ CC BY 4.0; Martin Rulsch, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0; Ocoudis/CC BY-SA 4.0; Team USA; and AndrewHenkelman/ CC BY-SA 4.0
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Graphic by Ryan Quan
Words by Samantha Pak
Up until the last decade or so, it wasn’t unheard of to see women pitted against each other.
In fact, it was the norm—both in real life, as well as in pop culture. Whitney versus Mariah. Brandy versus Monica. Britney versus Christina. Music “rivalries” may have been the most prominent, but no industry was exempt.
For us sporty folks, there was probably no field in which this competition among women was exemplified more than figure skating. Before Gen X-ers and Millennials lived through the days of Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski (and were forced to pick a side), we survived the Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan feud.
So the image of American figure skater Alysa Liu congratulating and celebrating with Japan’s Ami Nakai last month when the latter realized she had just won the Olympic bronze medal in women’s figure skating—and Liu more or less ignoring the fact that she’d just won the gold—does my Millennial heart some good.
In addition to cheering on her teammates as well as her competitors, Liu is making waves and headlines for her truly unreal comeback story. Competing at the top of her game, winning championships and breaking records at a young age, only to retire at 16 after competing at the Olympics in 2022. Then after two years of not even lacing up her skates for fun, she decides to return to her sport. And not only is she competitive, she kills it, winning the world championships her first time back out the gate, placing second at nationals, and winning the aforementioned gold medal at the Olympics, as well as helping Team USA win the team figure skating gold. And all the while, when it comes to winning, she could take it or leave it. Liu is the definition of unbothered when it comes to the stress of being an elite athlete. She loves skating, but the sport doesn’t define her.
And she’s not alone. Liu is part of a wave of athletes who are rewriting what it means to excel in sports. From the growing camaraderie among competitors, to advocating for mental health, these athletes are not just paying lip service, they’re leading by example. And the athletes at the front of the line? Women from the Asian diaspora.
Whether Wasian, Blasian, or full Asian, these women are the future of sports.
Athletes contain multitudes
There’s no doubt that Asian women are great athletes—they gave us two out of the three all-Asian podiums at the Winter Games last month (in women’s snowboard halfpipe and the aforementioned women’s figure skating, with men’s figure skating rounding out the trio). But they’re showing how you can get there without spending your whole life on the court, ice, or field.
In the 1990s and 2000s, professional athletes were known for their dedication to and focus on their sports—that “Mamba Mentality” that meant they ate, drank and slept the game. In my world of gymnastics, it wasn’t uncommon for athletes to be homeschooled just so they could dedicate more time to training. And it wasn’t just at the elite level. I had teammates who also didn’t go to “regular” school.
But now you’ve got athletes like Liu, and gymnasts Suni Lee, and Leanne Wong, who have shown us that you can go to school and have other interests outside of your sport. Wong is the queen of this. On top of competing as both an elite and collegiate athlete—though she’s done with the latter after graduating from the University of Florida last year (pre-med, with magna cum laude honors), she also runs her own business, selling hair bows, gymnastics leotards and t-shirts.
Meanwhile, Liu and Lee have made forays into fashion, appearing at Paris Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week, respectively, after each of their latest Olympic games. Lee also walked in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in October 2025, telling Marie Claire ahead of the show that walking felt like a dream outside her comfort zone, which is why she decided to do it. And after the show, when critics (i.e. haters on the Internet) tried to body shame her for—of all things—her height, Lee clapped back, showing how she embraces both her athletic and feminine sides.
Girls’ girls
These athletes are not putting up with other people’s bullsh*t. And I love it. Whether it’s online bullies, or journalists asking ridiculous questions, these women are standing up for themselves.
During the Winter Olympics last month, freestyle skier Eileen Gu was asked at a press conference whether she viewed her most recent competitions as “two silvers gained or two golds lost.” Gu, the most-decorated female freestyle skier in history, responded by literally (though politely) laughing in the reporter’s face and calmly reminding him of this fact. She then went on to explain how difficult it is to win any kind of medal at the Olympics—all with a smile on her face. What she didn’t do (and what many of us would’ve loved to do) was ask the reporter how many Olympic medals he’s won. And after this interview, Gu topped off her Games with a gold in the women’s freeski halfpipe event.
And when these women are not standing up for themselves, they’re standing up for each other. In her interview with The New York Times, Liu was asked about Gu’s choice to represent China at the Olympics. Liu, who has known Gu since they were both teenagers, defended her fellow Bay Area Wasian and pointed out how hypocritical it is for people to shame Gu for her decision because Gu’s mother is an immigrant, and “y’all would have told her to go back to China. Now that they’re back in China, you’re mad.” And later on, when Liu was asked why she decided to speak about Gu, she simply said that she was asked about it, so she replied.
These are girls’ girls, through and through, supporting each other in the press, as well as in the stands—literally and figuratively—and on the podium. Lee was recently on the Today Show discussing the Winter and Summer Olympics, where she fangirled over her friend snowboarder Chloe Kim, and Liu, saying how they’re both such “great representation for Asian women in sports.” In turn, Kim—who was part of the all-Asian snowboard halfpipe, winning the silver medal—said she was so proud of her “baby,” Choi Gaon, the 17-year-old South Korean who dethroned Kim and took home the gold. Two or three decades ago, this kind of love and support would have been reserved for teammates—if we saw it at all—so to see it cross both disciplines as well as nations just shows how far things have come.
Getting the conversation started
Physical health is key for athletes, but so is mental health. And Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka has become one of the faces of mental health in sports. For nearly a decade, Osaka has shared her mental health journey, openly talking about her struggles with depression and how press conferences give her anxiety. Her openness—along with others’—has helped normalize discussions around mental health, which still carries a large stigma (and not just in sports).
Over the years Osaka has faced backlash for prioritizing her mental health at the expense of some of her professional obligations. In 2021, after announcing she would be skipping the mandatory press conferences at the French Open, she was fined and criticized—labeled as “spoiled” and a “diva” (among other things) as critics said these interviews were part of the job. But Osaka received support from fellow athletes as well as fans. In the end, she put herself first and pulled out of the tournament, later reminding us that “it’s O.K. to not be O.K., and it’s O.K. to talk about it.” In addition, Osaka’s actions also led to wider discussions about media duties and the pressures athletes face.
So not only did Osaka do what’s right for herself, by doing so, she helped open up conversations around athletes’ mental health—which are necessary and still ongoing.
As someone who grew up as an athlete, but rarely saw herself represented not just in her own sport, but in any sport, it makes my adolescent gymnast’s heart flip with joy to see Asian female athletes at the top of their respective games. And seeing them at the forefront of pushing sports culture toward a more welcoming, inclusive and healthy environment for all athletes makes me proud to be a part of the community—even in a small, tangential way.
And the fact that many of them are also friends makes it all the more exciting. I would love to be a fly on the wall of that karaoke night.
Published on March 31, 2026
Words by Samantha Pak
Samantha Pak (she/her) is an award-winning Cambodian American journalist from the Seattle area and co-editor in chief for JoySauce. She spends more time than she’ll admit shopping for books than actually reading them, and has made it her mission to show others how amazing Southeast Asian people are. Follow her on Twitter at @iam_sammi and on Instagram at @sammi.pak.