isabeau levito setback leaves Alysa Liu as Team USA's final individual medal hope in Milan

Short intro: After a dramatic short program session at the Milano Ice Skating Arena on Feb. 17, 2026 ET, Alysa Liu emerged as the United States' last realistic contender for an individual figure skating gold. A series of mistakes and controversial calls for other American skaters—including a mark against Isabeau Levito—have narrowed the U. S. medal window to one athlete.

Short program shakes up women's field

Liu delivered one of the most technically daring elements of the night, landing a triple Lutz–triple loop combination—the most difficult combination attempted by a woman in the event. Her short program performance placed her within striking distance of the leaders, roughly two points behind the top scorer and sitting just behind a teammate from Japan on the leaderboard. After taking the ice on Feb. 17, 2026 ET, Liu emphasized how connected she felt to her program and how seeing family and friends in the crowd helped steady her.

Her composure contrasted sharply with the emotional exits and scoring setbacks experienced by other U. S. skaters. One teammate, who had hoped to advance, finished just outside the cutoff and was visibly distraught after leaving the ice. The difference between moving on and heading home early was razor thin, underscoring how every grade-of-execution call and component mark can swing an athlete's Olympic fate.

Isabeau Levito's errors and their impact

Isabeau Levito, a skater known for collecting program component points with intricate footwork and expressive sequences, was marked down in both rotation and step sequence value during the short program. Judges ruled that her triple loop was under-rotated and downgraded the level of her step sequence—areas that typically deliver her a competitive edge. Those deductions left her in eighth place after the short, turning her into a long shot to climb onto the podium in the free skate scheduled for Thursday night ET.

The effect of those calls was immediate: where Levito could have leveraged her spinning and step features to vault into medal contention, the downgraded elements forced her into recovery mode. With only the free skate remaining to overhaul her position, she will need a near-flawless long program and uncharacteristically weak performances from several rivals to regain a podium slot.

Broader U. S. picture and pressure on Liu

The short program session came on the heels of mixed outcomes across the U. S. figure skating team. Earlier competition phases delivered a team gold, but subsequent individual events have seen Americans fall short. An ice dance pair that went into the final contended with contentious scoring and ended up with silver, while a leading men's favorite twice fell in his free skate and finished well out of medal range.

Those results have concentrated expectation on Liu. While she downplayed head-to-head calculations—saying she focuses on performing her own programs and connecting with her story—the responsibility is clear: the country’s individual medal hopes in figure skating now rest largely on her free skate performance Thursday night ET. She will face top challengers, including skaters who sit narrowly ahead of her after the short, and the technical and artistic balance she achieved earlier will have to be replicated under ramped-up pressure.

With the Olympic stage amplifying every error and every triumph, Liu’s challenge is straightforward in theory and unforgiving in practice: deliver a free skate that combines clean jumps, solid levels on spins and footwork, and the program components judges reward at the highest tier. If she can do that, the U. S. still has a clear path to an individual medal. If she falters, a disappointing individual medal count for the team becomes increasingly likely.

All eyes will be on the Milano Ice Skating Arena on Thursday night ET, when the free skate will determine whether Alysa Liu can convert momentum from the short program into an Olympic podium finish for the United States.