02/19/26 04:40:00
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02/19 16:39 CST Alysa Liu dazzles to win figure skating gold, ending a 24-year
Olympic drought for US women
Alysa Liu dazzles to win figure skating gold, ending a 24-year Olympic drought
for US women
By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer
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.
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.
___
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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