Liu wins elusive Olympic women’s figure skating gold for US
MILAN — It had been 24 years since an American girl had received a person Olympic gold in figure skating getting into Thursday’s free skate.
With Japan’s Ami Nakai and Kaori Sakamoto within the prime two spots after the quick program, it did not precisely appear doubtless that drought could be snapped for at the very least one other 4 years.
But on Thursday night time, with the eyes of the world watching, Alysa Liu — the 20-year-old with bleached tree-ringed hair from California simply two years faraway from unretirement — made the inconceivable look easy with a flawless efficiency that mixed her signature artistry with completely executed jumps.
Skating to Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park Suite” — the identical program she used to win the world championship title final March — Liu landed her triple flip to open her skate, adopted with a triple lutz-triple toe loop mixture and nearly instantly had the gang clapping alongside to the disco beat.
As she skated off the ice, Liu turned to the digicam and exclaimed, “That’s what I’m f—ing talking about!”
She jumped up and down after she left the ice in celebration together with her coaches Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali, and he or she was elated when her rating of 150.20, shattering her earlier season finest, was introduced. Her complete rating of 226.79 gave her the lead, and with simply Nakai and Sakamoto remaining, she was assured a medal.
Despite the stakes, she sat within the rinkside seat reserved for the chief and clapped and cheered on her two rivals as they skated. She later informed reporters no matter occurred was only a bonus. She had already had the chance to showcase her artwork and creativity to the world.
“I don’t need this [medal]”Liu stated. “But what I needed was the stage and I got that, so I was all good. “It does not matter what occurred.”
When Nakai’s scores were announced, Liu’s teammate Amber Glenn jumped up next to her and raised her hand in celebration as if to pronounce the new champion. Liu then went and hugged everyone in the vicinity, including Sakamoto, who earned the silver, and Nakai, who claimed the bronze.
Thursday’s outcome would hardly be surprising for anyone who followed Liu’s early days in the sport. Liu became the youngest woman in United States history to win the national championship as a 13-year-old in 2019. She won it again the following year, and an Olympic berth came as a 16-year-old in 2022.
But following a sixth-place finish at the Beijing Games and a third-place result at the world championships soon after, Liu announced she would be retiring from the sport, citing burnout. For the next two years, she lived the life of a teenager — hanging out with friends, taking vacations and making out at UCLA.
Eventually, the ice lured her back. After a family ski trip reminded her of the thrill she felt skating, she found herself at a public skating session. It didn’t take long before she decided to officially make a comeback. She hired DiGuglielmo and Scali, two of her former coaches, who were initially apprehensive. Few had managed to come back after such a lengthy absence, and they told her as much.
Liu was persistent. And this time, she insisted, every decision would come from her. She would have the last say in everything from the music in her programs to her costumes to when and how long she trained. She wanted her ideas and creativity to be reflected in everything she did.
Last season, her first back, she won the world championship. Her team knew she had the potential and programs to win, but it wasn’t their priority. For Liu, she just wanted to show her art on a big stage.
That same laid-back attitude persisted going into 2025-26.
“We by no means really had a aim of successful. We by no means stated successful an Olympic gold medal,” DiGuglielmo said Thursday night. “We by no means stated it as a result of it was type of taboo… For her, it is all about exhibiting her artwork, and the aim [for this season] It was simply to make the Olympic crew. That was the actually massive deal for her.”
Liu was excited to have the true Olympic experience, DiGuglielmo explained, after the 2022 Games had been held with strict COVID-19 protocols in place. The only singles skater for the US team who had been to the Olympics before, Liu wanted to take everything in and show everyone who she is and her journey. She also said she was “honored” to have the chance to perform in front of a crowd, as well as her friends and family who were in attendance.
“I feel my story is extra vital than something to me, and that is what I maintain expensive,” Liu said. “And this journey has been unbelievable, and my life has simply been — I’ve no complaints and I’m simply so grateful for every part.”
DiGuglielmo said Thursday’s final result was irrelevant. Just being at the Games and Liu getting a chance to make new memories was already a victory. So much so, he told a small group of reporters that he and Scali toasted Liu before the free skate with “two pretty glasses of Paul Rose champagne” before walking over to the rink.
“We did a little bit pre-celebratory factor, like we realized from her,” he said. “A 3rd place, fourth place [finish] would’ve nonetheless been an unbelievable accomplishment. I can not sit right here and say she has to win. [Saying] she has to win does not jibe together with her values.”
Liu had already collected an Olympic gold medal in the team event last week. She had been among a trio of American women — dubbing themselves the “Blade Angels” — who all had a chance for the podium. Glenn, the three-time reigning national champion, had been considered among the favorites, but a botched jump in her short program had her fall down the standings into 13th place. Isabeau Levito was in eighth place entering Thursday’s free skate.
Levito fell in his free skate and finished in 12th place, but Glenn had a redemptive performance. Skating in the second group (out of four), she triumphantly landed her high-scoring triple axel and was nearly flawless. Her score of 147.52 and total of 214.53 put her in the lead until the final four competitors.
While clearly disappointed to not finish with an individual medal, Glenn stood in ovation for Liu during her program and couldn’t hide her excitement for her friend when it was over.
“Her story of taking a step again, psychological well being — I feel it actually attests to you by no means know what the journey to success goes to be,” Glenn said. “I actually hope that may attain the skating neighborhood, that it is OK to take time.”
