Alysa Liu wins gold in figure skating freeskate, ends 24-year US drought
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Team USA women’s figure skater Alysa Liu won gold in the women’s free skating final on Thursday, ending a 20-year drought for American women to win a medal and a 24-year drought for a gold medal.
The last American woman to win a singles figure skating medal at the Olympics was Sasha Cohen at the 2006 Turin Games, and the last American woman to win a singles figure skating gold medal was Sarah Hughes, who achieved the feat in 2002 during the Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
He did all his jumps and smiled the whole way through, and after he finished it turned into a spectacular celebration. Or even “that’s what I’m talking about!” He was even heard shouting. and “holy s—!” while celebrating with his team.
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Alysa Liu of the United States competes in the women’s figure skating free program at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Liu completed the race with 226.79 total points, 150.20 free skate points, and 76.59 short program points. It was his season’s best in free skate scoring.
But she still had to watch Japanese rivals Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai go after her.
Sakamoto was just good enough to come right behind Liu. Nakai appeared to be getting much closer as there was visible tension in the crowd as the judges reviewed Nakai’s moves before awarding his final score. But when they announced that Nakai had fallen short, the crowd erupted in celebration of Liu.
Liu was the only American woman with a chance to make the podium after Tuesday’s short program, as teammates Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito fell short.
With his teammates falling short and men’s star Ilia Malinin falling to eighth place after two falls, all the pressure was on Liu to win the gold medal for the United States in the individual figure skating competition.
Following her dramatic comeback story, Liu became a fan favorite in the United States this year, playing a key role in helping her country win gold in the team event. He has just returned to the world stage after a brief retirement following his performance at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
Just before participating in the 2022 Beijing games, she and her father were the targets of a Chinese government espionage operation.
ILIA MALI’S HINT OF INTENSE OLYMPIC PRESSURE IN THE DAYS AFTER THE UNEXPECTED RESULT
Alysa Liu of the United States competes in the women’s figure skating free program at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Liu described the experience as “a little strange and exciting.”
“You know what I mean? It’s so… incredible. You know what I mean, it’s crazy,” Liu previously told Fox News Digital during a roundtable interview at the USOPC Media Summit in October.
“Like, imagine learning this at such a young age, so in a weird way you’re like, ‘Am I like on a prank show?’ I thought. For example, is this world real? It’s like I should be a movie character. But I mean, with everything my dad did in his activist days, it made sense to me.”
He did not rule out adapting his life and experience in an international espionage case into a movie.
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Alysa Liu of the United States arrives to compete in the women’s figure skating free program at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Still, he has some preferences about bringing his story to the big screen.
“They have to make me look like this super cool hero. And I can’t be the kid who gets spied on and doesn’t do anything about it,” he said. “But honestly, I would like the main focus to be like my dad’s story, because his story is so cool and also just like everything that happened because of what he did, so I feel like we need to start from the roots.”
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