Starstruck fans of Olympic superstar Alysa Liu descended on social media Tuesday night, uploaded videos of her hero’s welcome at San Francisco International Airport and posting real-time sightings in local groups, including a celebratory dinner.
The Bay Area has watched in awe for days as 20-year-old Liu, whose home training rink is at the Oakland Ice Center, won two gold medals in the Olympic women’s figure skating competition.
After she arrived in the East Bay, sleuths on local Alameda Facebook groups spotted Liu at Italian restaurant Trabocco Tuesday night, where she was given cake with the words “Congratulations” written in chocolate sauce. “What an incredible honor to have Oakland’s hero, Alysa Liu join us at Trabocco this evening!” the restaurant wrote on its Facebook page. After the post went public, Alameda residents who follow the restaurant hit the local online groups to play paparazzi.
“Not to start a stampede but Alysa Liu was spotted in Alameda this evening,” one post on the group Alameda Peeps read.“Yep … saw her and her friends walking past Chipotle,” said another post. “Either Alyssa Liu was just hanging out in Alameda or her hairstyle is already being copied by some other youngsters,” read another post. Liu herself joked about potentially having to wear wigs in public from now on, but still she told a press pool, “I hope that with all this attention I can at least raise awareness about mental health in sports.”But some fans acknowledged how much pressure the sudden fame must put on Liu, who was earlier greeted by fans after exiting a long flight from Europe. “You guys she’s amazing and beyond talented but she’s just a regular person,” said one commentator. “I’m sure she wants to be treated as such and left alone, especially in public places. Just a reminder.”…