By Scott Mammoser, Team FSO writer
Photos by Robin Ritoss
MILAN, Italy – Alysa Liu went from pre-teen phenom to retired at 16. In a scene no one could have predicted two years ago, the 20-year-old Californian emerged as the Olympic gold medalist following the women’s free skate Thursday night at the Milano Cortina Games. She became the eighth U.S. woman to stand atop the Olympic podium and the first since Sarah Hughes did so at Salt Lake in 2002.
Entering the evening in third place, Liu scored highest on her triple Lutz-triple toe combination, then on her triple Lutz-double Axel-double toe sequence to record a free skate score of 150.20, which was a season’s best score and a total score of 226.79. which was a personal best score. Despite having a Lady Gaga program that she skated at the U.S. Championships, Liu chose to skate to the same Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park” music as when she won the world championship last year, which was equally as surprising.
“It took a lot to get to this point,” Liu said. “I love this music, and I just skate to my favorite songs. I think it was the perfect program for me. Being grounded is really what keeps me curious. A lot happened in four years. My family was here watching. In Beijing, we didn’t have a crowd, so the fact that there was a crowd had me up even more, so I was honored to perform.”
Liu, who won her first U.S. title at age 13, was sixth at the Beijing Olympics. After winning the bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships one month later, she retired. Two years of finding herself in other activities that were not related to the strenuous training schedule that had occupied her childhood, allowed Liu to free her mind and eventually return to the ice.
“I hope with all of this attention, I can raise awareness of mental health in sports, mental health in general,” Liu added. “I think my story is pretty cool. I hope that inspires people, as well. All I want in my life is human connection. That’s my dream. I am glad I have creative ideas and I can share those ideas, as well.”
Liu is also the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic medal of any color since Sasha Cohen won silver in Torino 2006. Earlier in the in the Olympics, she won the gold medal in the team competition. Liu is the first woman to claim two gold medals at a single Games.
Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto earned the silver medal, improving from her bronze medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Skating to an Edith Piaf medley, which includes the song “Non, je ne regrette rien”, which translates to “I have no regrets, Sakamoto scored highest on her double Axel-triple toe-double toe combination. She struggled on the landing of her second triple flip and could not add a planned triple toe for a combination, which cost her some needed points. She earned a free skate score of 147.67 and a combinated score of 224.90 for the silver. The 25-year-old now has three Olympic silver medals, two from the team events in 2022 and 2026, and a bronze from the individual event in Beijing.
“Four years ago in Beijing, I won what felt like a miraculous bronze medal,” Sakamoto said. “Now, four years later, I came here aiming for gold. “I’m frustrated that I couldn’t win it and ended up with silver. But the fact that I can feel frustrated even though I moved up a medal color shows how much I’ve grown over these past four years. All the experiences I’ve accumulated have led to this growth, and I think that’s something I can be proud of.”
Ami Nakai, the 17-year-old leader after the short program, won the bronze medal, as Japan concluded these Olympics with six medals in figure skating. She had the ninth-best free skate with a score of 140.45. She opened with a beautiful triple Axel but she stumbled on her early triple Lutz-double toe combination, which was supposed to be a triple toe. She finished with 219.16 points. The final skater of the event, she ended her performance placing her index finger to her mouth as if to gesture “Was this enough to win a medal?”
“I feel very happy that I was able to land the Axel,” Nakai noted. “But there were also parts where I made mistakes on jumps, so I honestly felt frustrated and wondered what was going to happen. When the scores came out, I couldn’t tell where my ranking was. I was searching for it. I thought I didn’t make it. When I looked next to my name, it had a three next to it. That’s when I finally realized it meant a bronze medal. I was really surprised, and honestly, I even wondered if it was real.”
2025 World bronze medalist Mone Chiba of Japan was just off the podium in fourth with 217.88 points. Chiba said through an interpreter that she was very proud and satisfied with how she performed in both the short and long programs. She practices the same as she normally does, but needed to imagine that it was the Olympics. She hopes to memorize her performance.
Team USA’s Amber Glenn, who was in tears after her 13th-place place short program, rose to fifth with the third-highest-scoring free skate (147.52) of the night for a combined score of 214.91.
“I’m very proud to be here,” Glenn said. “Alysa’s story is a testament to mental health, and I am so happy for her. It’s great to sit (in the leader’s seat), but you don’t want to wish mistakes on anybody. I am a fighter and resilient, and I never thought I’d be here in the top five. I am happy to make an impact not just on the skating community, but on a larger group of people.”
Individual neutral athlete Adeliia Petrosian dropped from fifth place after the short program to finish sixth overall. European Champion Niina Petrokina, of Estonia, Haein Lee of Korea, Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia, Sofia Samodelkina of Kazakhstan, Korea’s Jia Shin, and American Isabeau Levito, claimed placements sixth through 12th respectively. Nina Pizarrone of Belgium was the last skater to score more than 200 points and wound up in 13th place.
“I want to do it again in four years!” Pinzarrone said. “The warmth of all of the athletes, it’s something you can’t explain and something you dream of. I wish it (the 2030 Games) was next week.”
Pinzarrone’s teammate, 2022 world silver medalist Leona Hendrickx was 14th, followed by Italy’s Lara Naki Gutmann.Gutmann went home to Trento, which is two hours in the direction of Cortina, after winning the bronze medal in the team competition.
“I’m happy for today,” Gutmann said, “as I was not satisfied with the short program, and I wanted to perform for the home crowd.”
