Alysa Liu wins Olympic gold at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games
Alysa Liu is the 2026 Olympic champion.
It was a stunning outcome for the U.S. 2025 world champion, who returned to the sport after more than two years of retirement, following the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Liu is known for her free spirit and joyful demeanor on the ice, but she also delivered technical content to support her Olympic bid. With the win, she became the first U.S. women’s figure skater to take gold since Sarah Hughes achieved the feat 2002.
“I’m very happy with how I skated,” Liu said after the medal ceremony. “[It was an] unbelievable feeling when I was done skating. And when I was skating — hearing the cheers — and I felt so connected with the audience. I want to be out there again.”
Liu is a former prodigy who captured a U.S. title at just 13. She was the third U.S. woman to land a triple axel, and the first to land a quad in competition, and she earned 6th in the Beijing Olympics. Then, at 16, to the surprise of the figure skating world, she walked away from it all. But two years later she found herself drawn back to the ice. She began training, and less than a year later, she won the World Championships surprising everyone, including herself.
“I really don’t feel nervous. I don’t feel the pressure. There’s nothing like holding me down or holding me back,” she said after the short program. “I invite it all in. So, no matter what happens, it’s a story.”
A story it certainly was. Liu took less than a two-point lead over Japan’s veteran three-time world champion, Kaori Sakamoto. Sakamoto gave a beautiful performance, with her signature class evident from start-to-finish in her Edith Piaf free skate. But just a few small errors on her jumps made the difference between gold and silver on the night.
Sakamoto was seen in tears after the event concluded, but it was unclear if the emotion was from the loss of the gold, or simply the enormity of the moment — Sakamoto has announced that this season, and perhaps this performance, will be her last.
In 3rd, 17-year-old Ami Nakai, also from Japan, gave a delightful showing in her Olympic — and senior event — debut. The youngest competitor of the event, Nakai slipped from 1st after the short program to 9th in her “What a Wonderful World” free skate but had enough of a lead to hold on for the bronze.
Her teammate, Mone Chiba, held on to 4th place skating to “Romeo and Juliet,” giving an excellent performance but several jumps were called with under rotations, and the deductions may have made the 1.28-point difference that kept her from bronze.
Amber Glenn had an incredible rally from 13th to 3rd place in the free skate and 5th overall. It was the redemption she was looking for, and she delivered a gorgeous rendition of her “I Will Find You” free skate. Masterful, easy, it was Glenn at her best. Only one error — a hand down on her final jump, a triple loop — and otherwise she was nearly perfect. “So close,” she was seen to say at the end, likely referencing that one mistake.
The crowd roared along with her, and you could see the relief and happiness spread across her face as she knew she was having the skate she so wanted. She earned a season’s best of 147.52 points for the free skate, giving her a total of 214.91 points.
“I’m so proud of the resilience I showed,” she said after the event. “It has not been easy. I have had so many things standing in my way that I have to just work through. And so, I’m just really happy I was able to go out there and do what I love and
enjoy it.”
As skater after skater performed, Glenn stayed sitting in the leader’s chair beside the Kiss and Cry. You could see the tension on her face, as she cheered for her competitors while they skated, also aware that the better they did, the sooner she would be toppled from the lead.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ because I didn’t want anyone to make a mistake,” Glenn said. “But you also, you’re like, ‘Oh, but I don’t want to [lose the lead]. So, it’s very conflicting. But I was just glad I was able to see such a fantastic event up close.”
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