Alysa Liu delivered the U.S. its first women's figure skating Olympic gold medal in 24 years, performing a near-flawless free skate 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 raised in Richmond, 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.
The moment Nakai's score was read after the final program of the night, teammate Amber Glenn jumped 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's the first gold medal for an American woman since 2002, when Sarah Hughes stood atop the podium in Salt Lake City.
Only the women's event remains, and the U.S. squad, also known as the Blade Angels, is the strongest in decades. Going in, I thought they might snap Team USA's 20-year medal drought in women's figure skating by leaving the 2026 Games with two of the three medals. After the short program, however, two angels have fallen, and only one American, reigning World Champion Alysa Liu, remains in the hunt for gold.
Instead of continuing to walk through the black curtain and out of the watchful eyes of fans and reporters, Liu posted up directly in front of the media row next to the ice. For the next few minutes, Liu stood, clapped and cheered loudly as Amber Glenn thrilled the crowd. By the end of the program, Liu had recruited Isabeau Levito, who was currently in second place, to join her and the two roared in ovation as Glenn skated off the ice.
Levito and the United States' "Blade Angels" are trying to stay calm under pressure at the Olympics, where chaos has reigned at Milano Ice Skating Arena. The United States was expected to dominate figure skating in Milan, but has yet to win a gold medal in an individual event entering Tuesday's women's short program. A supposed sure-fire gold medal disappeared in stunning fashion with Ilia Malinin's eighth-place collapse.
