MILAN (AP) — Alysa Liu delivered the U.S. its first women’s figure skating Olympic gold medal in 24 years, performing a near-flawless free skate on Thursday night in a glittering golden dress to upstage Japanese rivals Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai at the Milan Cortina Games.
The 20-year-old from the San Francisco Bay Area, who had walked away from the sport after the Beijing Games four years ago only to launch a remarkable comeback, finished with a career-best 226.79 points. Nakai and Sakamoto, skating right behind her, each made a mistake on a combination sequence, and that made the difference in the medals.
Sakamoto scored 224.90 points to earn a silver to go with her bronze from Beijing. Nakai finished third with 219.16 points.
The moment Nakai’s score was read after the final program of the night, U.S. teammate Amber Glenn jumped up onto the kiss-and-cry stand and raised Liu’s hand in triumph. Liu sheepishly turned and applauded the 17-year-old Nakai, who raced over and hugged her.
It was the first individual gold medal for an American woman since 2002, when Sarah Hughes stood atop the podium in Salt Lake City, and it was the second gold for Liu at the Milan Cortina Games. She helped the Americans win team gold.
Alysa Liu of the United States competes during the women’s figure skating free program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Alysa Liu of the United States competes during the women’s figure skating free program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
From left to right, silver medalist Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, gold medalist Alysa Liu of the United States, and bronze medalist Ami Nakai of Japan, jump on the podium to receive their medals after competing in the women’s free skate program in figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alysa Liu of the United States competes during the women’s figure skating free program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Gold medalist Alysa Liu of the United States displays her medal after competing in the women’s free skate program in figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
The medal blended right into her gold-sequined dress, only its blue ribbon standing out. And it seemed to be the perfect complement to the golden stripes through her dark brown hair, which are meant to resemble the growth rings on a tree.
Liu has done a whole lot of growing up over the years.
She was the youngest U.S. champion ever when she won the first of back-to-back titles at 13 years old. But after finishing sixth at the Beijing Games, Liu was so burned out that she abruptly retired. She spent the next two years doing bucket-list things like climbing up to the base camp of Mount Everest and enrolling at UCLA, where she is studying psychology.
It was after a skiing trip, when Liu felt the same adrenaline rush that came with skating, that she contemplated her comeback. But this time, she would be skating on her terms, more happy-go-lucky and self-assured than she had been as a childhood prodigy.
Even during warmups Thursday night, she skated with a grin on her face, never showing any signs of pressure.
Meanwhile, Glenn finished in fifth place behind Mone Chiba of Japan, a stunning rebound from her disastrous short program Tuesday night. Glenn’s season-best free skate gave a score of 214.91 points, and it just about landed her on the podium as well.
Glenn pumped her first and fought back tears when her score was read, then she took a seat in the new “leader’s chair.”
She wound up sitting there for quite a while.
Adeliia Petrosian, the 18-year-old Russian competing as a neutral athlete at the Milan Cortina Games, tried the only quadruple jump during the women’s competition but fell on the quad toe loop. She was clean the rest of the way, but the points Petrosian lost on that fall ended up leaving her less than a half-point behind Glenn in the leader’s chair.
It was Chiba — the ninth skater to follow the three-time U.S. champ — who finally took over first place.
That didn’t last long with Liu next on the ice.
The reigning world champion — that title was the first for an American in a mere 19 years, by the way — was perfect from her opening triple flip to her closing combination sequence. As the last bits of Donna Summer’s rendition of “MacArthur Park” closed, and the roar of the fans filled the void, the carefree Liu gave a casual flip of her ponytail as if to say, “So what?”
Her coaches, Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali, were a little more rambunctious. They punched the air, then gave each other a big hug, before heading over to greet their star pupil when she stepped off the ice to await her score.
The score that ultimately would give her an Olympic title and end a long drought for the American women.
