Alysa Liu wins Olympic gold in Milan,ends U.S. women’s medal drought

Alysa Liu delivered a dazzling performance to win the gold at the Milano Cortina Games on Thursday as she capped a remarkable comeback journey to snap a 20-year Olympic medal drought for Americans in the women’s figure skating event.
Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto took silver, finishing ahead of her 17-year-old teammate Ami Nakai, who claimed bronze.
Skating with joyful confidence, Liu nailed jump after jump in her Donna Summer disco-themed free skate to bring the sold-out crowd to their feet.
Comeback Queen
Liu stunned the skating world when she retired from the sport aged just 16 after the Beijing Games in 2022, citing burnout and the desire to pursue other interests.
The Californian returned two years later with a new perspective – and more creative control – taking charge of her music choices, programmes and costumes. That reset helped spark a resurgence that included a world title in Boston last year.
Aptly dressed in a shimmering gold outfit, the 20-year-old joyously celebrated her flawless display by playfully flicking back her striped ponytail at the end of her routine.
Her performance left her teammate Ilia Malinin punching the air in delight as he cheered on from the stands and earned Liu a season’s best score of 150.20 for her free skate and a total of 226.79.
It was Liu’s second gold medal in Milan following the United States’ triumph in the team competition earlier in the Games.
She came into Thursday’s competition as the U.S.’s last realistic hope for gold after teammates and fellow “Blade Angels” Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito put themselves out of contention in Tuesday’s short programme.
Liu pulled off seven soaring triple jumps on Thursday to become the first American woman to win an individual medal since Sasha Cohen captured silver in 2006 and the first U.S. gold medallist since Sarah Hughes triumphed in Salt Lake City in 2002.
Sakamoto disappointed
Sakamoto, a favourite coming into the competition, was looking to win her first gold medal in her final Olympics but it was not to be as the three-time world champion and Beijing bronze medallist paid the price for failing to deliver one of her jump combinations.
As she skated off the ice with a bloodied knee, the pain was both physical and mental for Sakamoto, who burst into tears as realisation hit that her gold medal hopes had disappeared with that one jumping mishap.
She finished second with a total of 224.90.
Nakai came into Thursday’s free skate leading both Sakamoto and Liu. While she nailed her opening triple Axel, her next element did not go to plan as she mistimed the expected triple loop-triple toeloop combination and had to settle for a triple-double effort — which effectively cost her the gold.