Alysa Liu Wins U.S. First Women’s Olympic Singles Gold Since 2002
alyssa liu reclaimed her competitive career and captured the women’s Olympic singles gold at the Milan-Cortina Games, posting a personal-best 226. 79 points to become the first American woman to win singles gold since Sarah Hughes in 2002.
Alysa Liu’s comeback sealed in the free skate
After finishing third in the short program, Alysa Liu rose to the top of the medal podium with a free skate that judges rewarded for both technical precision and bright artistry; she landed seven triple jumps and received career-high marks for choreography, musicality and skating skills. The 20-year-old from Oakland performed the long program to Donna Summer’s recording of "MacArthur Park, " skating with a relaxed, liberated presence that the judges scored as her best in the most important competition of her young life.
How the long program played out on the ice
alyssa liu did not attempt a triple axel in the long program, a jump that some rivals attempted, but she skated the most complete program of the night. Photographs captured moments in her combo where Liu approached the first part at 8. 7 miles per hour, rotated three times in the air and, after striking her toe pick, rotated three more times to complete the sequence. She finished the event with a total of 226. 79 points, her highest score in competition.
Podium: Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai take silver and bronze
Japan claimed both silver and bronze. Kaori Sakamoto, 25 and a three-time world champion, took silver with 224. 90 points in what was announced as her final competition before retiring. Ami Nakai, 17 and making her Olympic debut, slipped from first after the short program to earn the bronze with 219. 16 points. Liu will leave these Games with two gold medals; her first came in the team event earlier in the Olympics.
Other technical choices stood out: Nakai and Liu’s American teammate Amber Glenn attempted triple axels in the long program, while the Russian Adeliia Petrosian attempted a quadruple toe loop. The differences in jump selection helped shape the final standings and underscored Liu’s strategy of combining cleanly landed triples with elevated artistic scores.
The victory carries historical weight: Liu became the first American woman to win an Olympic singles title since Sarah Hughes at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, and the first American to win any Olympic women’s singles medal since Sasha Cohen’s silver in 2006 in Turin.
Kaori Sakamoto’s silver was confirmed as her final competitive performance before retirement, a next milestone that follows the Games. Officials and teams will now move from the medal ceremonies to routine post-competition duties and recovery, while the record books record Liu’s 226. 79 as the winning total at the Milan-Cortina Games.
