Alysa Liu delivered a near-perfect free skate on Feb. 19 at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, scoring 150.20 in the free program and finishing with a career-best total of 226.79. She had entered the free skate sitting in third place after the short program, but her performance to Donna Summer’s rendition of “MacArthur Park” vaulted her past both Japanese competitors to claim the gold.
Japan’s three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto took silver with 224.90 points, skating to Edith Piaf in what she has said will be her final competitive season. Seventeen-year-old Ami Nakai, also of Japan, earned the bronze with 219.16 points after small errors in her combination sequences cost her the lead she had held after the short program.
When Liu’s victory was confirmed, the crowd inside the arena rose to its feet. Her American teammate Amber Glenn rushed to the kiss-and-cry area and raised Liu’s hand in celebration. Liu, in turn, applauded Nakai and embraced her. As she walked through the tunnel after being confirmed as the new Olympic champion, Liu shouted at the broadcast camera with unfiltered joy. “I can’t process any of this. It can’t be real,” she said.
Liu retired after the 2022 Beijing Olympics, then found her way back
This gold medal represents far more than one night’s result. It caps one of the most remarkable comeback stories in recent Olympic history.
Liu finished sixth at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and won a bronze medal at the World Championships weeks later, then abruptly retired. She was 16 years old, and she was burned out. Over the next two years, she stepped entirely away from competition. She hiked to Everest Base Camp. She enrolled at UCLA, where she studied psychology. She tried to figure out who she was beyond the ice.
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According to ESPN, it was a skiing trip that reignited her competitive drive. When she returned to skating, something had changed. She was looser, more confident, and less burdened by the pressure that had pushed her away. Even during warmups before the Olympic free skate final, she was visibly relaxed, smiling throughout.
“Her decision to step away from the sport and focus on her mental health shows that you never know what the path to success is going to look like,” Glenn said after the event. Glenn, the reigning three-time U.S. champion, finished fifth in Milan.
First US women’s figure skating gold since 2002, first medal since 2006
Liu’s victory ended a 24-year gold medal drought for American women in Olympic figure skating. The last American woman to win the event was Sarah Hughes at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. The last American woman to win any individual Olympic medal in the discipline was Sasha Cohen, who took silver at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics.
Liu had already won gold as part of the U.S. team event earlier in the Milan Games. She now returns home with two gold medals.
Last year, she captured the 2025 World Championship title, becoming the first American woman to win worlds since 2006. That victory, combined with her Olympic triumph, has established her as the defining figure in American women’s figure skating for this generation.
Glenn recovered from a disappointing short program to post a season best
The free skate featured tight margins and high drama throughout the final group of skaters.
Glenn had dropped to 13th place after a mistake in her short program, where she doubled a planned triple loop. In the free skate, she responded with the performance of her season, opening with a clean triple Axel and delivering a technically strong program that earned her a season-best total of 214.91. She held first place in the standings for nearly an hour as subsequent skaters took the ice.
Adeliia Petrosian, an 18-year-old Russian competing under neutral status at the Milan Games due to the ongoing international sanctions on Russian athletes, attempted the only quadruple jump of the women’s competition. She fell on the quad toe loop, and the lost points left her at 214.53, less than half a point behind Glenn. “I feel ashamed, for myself, for the federation, for my coaches, and for the spectators,” Petrosian said afterward.
Liu’s calm performance sealed the gold as Japanese rivals made costly errors
Liu skated third to last. Dressed in a glittering gold costume, she was composed from her opening triple flip to her closing combination spin. Her only blemish was a minor deduction on a flying camel spin for traveling across the ice. As Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park” faded and the crowd erupted, Liu flicked her ponytail with casual ease. Her coaches, Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali, were far less restrained, exchanging high-fives and embracing at the boards.
Sakamoto followed with a strong program of her own, but a missed combination earlier in her free skate proved decisive. Her 224.90 was close, just 1.89 points behind Liu. Nakai, skating last and needing a clean program to overtake Liu, landed a triple Axel to open but made errors on subsequent combinations. Her final score of 219.16 confirmed Liu as the Olympic champion.
The confirmation was more than a personal triumph. It closed a chapter that American women’s figure skating had been waiting to write for nearly a quarter of a century.
