Alysa Liu and the Olympic spirit

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At the current Games in Milan, it’s been great to watch so many US athletes earn medals, and prove their mettle, on the biggest athletic stage in the world.

Americans beamed with pride on Thursday when Alysa Liu brought home the first Olympic gold medal in women’s figure skating in 24 years.

We were also proud for another reason: Liu chose to represent the United States, not China.

What a stark contrast with Eileen Gu, who was born in the U.S.A. but chose to represent the communist regime on the world stage.

Gu has defended those Olympians who have criticized the United States against rebukes from President Donald Trump — but she won’t say a word about China’s appalling human rights record.

In fact, she is literally carrying the flag for China’s geopolitical ambitions of dominance.

In return, Gu has earned tens of millions of dollars in endorsements in China.

She won’t even say whether she still has her American citizenship, because China outlaws dual citizenship.

Liu, on the other hand, is a proud and patriotic American — proud of her Chinese heritage, but also proud to represent the land of the free.

Her father left China after the Chinese Communist Party brutally crushed protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

She was clearly raised with a strong moral conscience about the importance of freedom and the value of American democracy.

Liu is also a Californian, and her shining success drives home the importance of the Olympic spirit to the Golden State.

The eyes of the world will be on Los Angeles in two years’ time — and we owe it to athletes like Liu to make the 2028 Summer Olympic Games a resounding success.

To duplicate that success, we need our leaders to pull together, set aside any differences they may have, and focus on what unites us.

Let the golden performance of Alysa Liu inspire our own Olympic victory.