MILAN — Alysa Liu arrived at the Olympic figure skating venue Thursday night hopping up and down, more excited for her teammate Amber Glenn than herself. She had watched Glenn’s stellar long program on the shuttle bus over to the Milano Ice Skating Arena and was cheering all the way. Now all she wanted to do was find Glenn and give her a hug.
Liu was an hour and a half away from skating her Olympic long program on what turned out to be the most important night of her life, but instead of worrying about that, she was thinking about someone else: A teammate and a dear friend.
It should then come as no surprise at all that when all was said and done, the most caring, carefree, selfless, happy and optimistic skater in the women’s competition just won the Olympic gold medal.
The Alysa Liu story is absolutely remarkable and utterly unprecedented in figure skating history: She won her first national title at 13. She won her second national title at 14. She retired at 16. She unretired at 18. She won the world championship at 19.
And she just won the Olympic gold medal at 20.
“I literally can’t process this,” Liu laughed as she realized that neither of the two Japanese skaters who came after her could pass her. “There’s no way.”
Liu did not just break the 20-year U.S. Olympic medal drought in women’s figure skating, she obliterated it. Skating with a freedom rarely seen at such an intense moment, especially in this year’s nerve-wracking Olympic skating competition, Liu performed an exquisitely delightful, smooth and error-free long program to Donna Summer’s "MacArthur Park," then sat back and watched Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai struggle just enough to secure the first U.S. women’s gold medal in figure skating since Sarah Hughes won the 2002 Olympic title in Salt Lake City.
She didn't know it yet, but Alysa Liu's spectacular free skate would win her Olympic GOLD. 👏 #WinterOlympicspic.twitter.com/LzMCkvwGMf
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 19, 2026
Liu edged out Sakamoto, the three-time world champion and 2022 Olympic bronze medalist, 226.79 points to 224.90. Nakai, the 17-year-old who led the competition after the short program, won the bronze medal with 219.16 points. Glenn rose from 13th to fifth with 214.91 points.
When Nakai’s score came up and Liu realized she won, she didn’t do what champions often do and stand alone in triumph. No, she spent her time hugging Nakai and then Sakamoto before finally standing alone just long enough for the cameras to put her on the big screen by herself, and the audience to roar in approval.
Then Liu laughed, and smiled, and laughed some more. The happiest figure skater on earth was Olympic champion.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alysa Liu's Olympic gold medal is a win for figure skating