{"id":8743,"date":"2026-02-20T10:11:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T10:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=8743"},"modified":"2026-02-20T10:11:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T10:11:24","slug":"alysa-liu-delivered-the-skate-of-her-life-at-the-2026-winter-olympics-rocketing-from-third-place-to-the-top-of-the-podium-and-becoming-the-first-u-s-woman-to-win-olympic-gold-since-2006","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=8743","title":{"rendered":"Alysa Liu delivered the skate of her life at the 2026 Winter Olympics \u2014 rocketing from third place to the top of the podium and becoming the first U.S. woman to win Olympic gold since 2006."},"content":{"rendered":"

Alysa Liu<\/span>\u00a0won a\u00a0gold medal<\/span>\u00a0in women\u2019s individual figure skating on Thursday, making her the first U.S. woman to take the Olympic podium in the event since 2006. Japan\u2019s Kaori Sakamoto took silver and Ami Nakai, also of Japan, took the bronze.The last American woman to earn a medal in individual figure skating was Sasha Cohen, who took home silver in 2006. Sarah Hughes was the last American woman to take home a gold medal, in 2002 \u2014 four years before Liu was even born. Michelle Kwan also won a bronze medal at those Olympics. This is Liu\u2019s second gold medal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI just like, can\u2019t process this. There\u2019s no way,\u201d Liu could be heard telling her coaches as she walked down the hallway after winning.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\"FSKATING-OLY-2026-MILANO<\/span>
Alysa Liu celebrates after winning gold at the Milan Cortina Olympic Games, with silver medalist Kaori Sakamoto to her left and bronze medalist Ami Nakai to her right.<\/span>Gabriel Bouys \/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Liu, 20, started the free skate in third place, behind Japan\u2019s Nakai and Sakamoto, following the short program on Tuesday. Isabeau Levito, 18, was in eighth place, while Amber Glenn, 26, was in 13th place after an error in her short program.<\/p>\n

Glenn was the first U.S. skater to take the ice for her free skate. After\u00a0failing to complete a triple loop on Tuesday<\/span>, her score going into the free skate was 67.39. During Thursday\u2019s skate, she nailed a triple axel, though she had to catch herself with her hand after nearly falling during her final loop. She scored 147.52, for a total score of 214.91.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\"Figure<\/span>
Amber Glenn competes at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 19, 2026.<\/span>Jamie Squire \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Photos captured Glenn embracing her coach after her skate. Glenn looked visibly thrilled, smiling and jumping for joy. Despite entering the free skate in 13th place, she was at the top of the leaderboard for much of the event, finally being unseated by Japanese skater Mone Chiba. Glenn ended the competition in fifth place, and Chiba took fourth place.<\/p>\n

Liu praised Glenn\u2019s pop-scored comeback in a brief interview with an NBC Olympics correspondent.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe did so good. I watched it on the bus on the way here, and aw, she killed it, and I\u2019m really happy for her,\u201d Liu said.<\/p>\n

Levito was the next American woman to skate. She took the ice with a score of 70.84 from her short program. She fell on the landing of her opening triple flip, losing nine points, but recovered to skate through the rest of her routine.<\/p>\n

\"FSKATING-OLY-2026-MILANO<\/span>
Isabeau Levito competes at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 19, 2026.<\/span>Piero Cruciatti \/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Levito looked disappointed after leaving the ice, even as Glenn cheered for her. She also appeared emotional as her score of 131.96 was read out. Levito racked up a total score of 202.80 and came in 12th overall.<\/p>\n

Liu was the final U.S. competitor and the third-to-last skater to take the ice. She looked at ease during her warmup, waving to spectators as she rehearsed. She entered the rink with a score of 76.59 after her carefree short program. Liu looked casual and energetic during her free skate, sailing through a triple lutz and triple salchow. She had a broad smile on her face throughout the event, and the crowd roared every time she landed a jump.<\/p>\n

\"TOPSHOT-FSKATING-OLY-2026-MILANO<\/span>
Alysa Liu competes at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 19, 2026.<\/span>Piero Cruciatti \/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Liu looked particularly at ease during her choreographic step sequences, and ended the routine triumphantly as her family rose for a standing ovation.<\/p>\n

Liu\u2019s score was 150.20, for a total score of 226.79.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what the f*** I\u2019m talking about!\u201d she shouted to the camera after finishing her skate. She bounced off the ice to hug her coaches and could be heard saying, \u201cThat was so great!\u201d as they handed her her skate guards. Glenn and Liu were also seen hugging.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so calm when I started,\u201d Liu said following the competition. \u201cI have this breathing technique that I use throughout this program, and I was just making sure to lock in on that, be as smooth as I can and look out into the crowd during all my transitions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI did that, and I felt everyone\u2019s energy. I felt my energy,\u201d she said, adding that she felt she \u201cput it all out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

On whether she is glad to have returned to the sport in 2024, after having retired at 16 following the Beijing 2022 Winter Games, Liu said: \u201cIt was just right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sakamoto earned silver for her skate to a medley of Edith Piaf songs. She missed a triple jump, but otherwise skated cleanly, and embraced Liu after she came off the ice.<\/p>\n

\"Figure<\/span>
Alysa Liu and Ami Nakai of Team Japan celebrate after competing in the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.\u00a0<\/span>Jamie Squire \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nakai struggled with some of her jumps, but the high difficulty score of her routine meant she still took home the bronze medal. Liu and Nakai also hugged after Nakai\u2019s score was read out.<\/p>\n

The United States also took gold in the team skating event earlier in the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alysa Liu\u00a0won a\u00a0gold medal\u00a0in women\u2019s individual figure skating on Thursday, making her the first U.S. woman to take the Olympic podium in the event since 2006. Japan\u2019s… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8744,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8743"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8745,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8743\/revisions\/8745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}