SP
BravenNow
Alysa Liu wins gold for U.S. in women's figure skating at Winter Olympics
| USA | general | ✓ Verified - cbsnews.com

Alysa Liu wins gold for U.S. in women's figure skating at Winter Olympics

#Alysa Liu #Winter Olympics 2026 #Figure skating #Milan Cortina #U.S. Olympic medal #Women's figure skating #Kaori Sakamoto #Ami Nakai

📌 Key Takeaways

  • Alysa Liu became the first U.S. woman to win Olympic gold in figure skating since 2002
  • Liu started in third place but delivered an exceptional free skate to claim gold
  • Two other American skaters, Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito, also competed with Glenn achieving a notable fifth-place finish
  • Japan's Kaori Sakamoto took silver and Ami Nakai bronze, making it a Japanese-dominated podium

📖 Full Retelling

Alysa Liu secured the gold medal in women's individual figure skating at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Thursday, February 19, 2026, delivering a stellar performance that overcame her third-place position after the short program and making her the first U.S. woman to win Olympic gold in the event since 2002. The 20-year-old American entered the free skate competition trailing Japan's Ami Nakai and Kaori Sakamoto, but her energetic and carefree routine, which included a triple lutz and triple salchow, impressed judges and spectators alike as she scored 150.20 points for a total of 226.79. Liu's victory was particularly significant as it ended a 24-year drought for American women in Olympic figure skating gold, with Sarah Hughes being the last American to claim the top podium position in 2002. Following her performance, Liu exclaimed to the camera, "That's what the f*** I'm talking about!" before hugging her coaches and fellow American skater Amber Glenn. Japan dominated the rest of the podium, with Kaori Sakamoto taking silver and Ami Nakai earning bronze, while Isabeau Levito represented the U.S. in eighth place. Liu also praised teammate Amber Glenn's remarkable comeback from 13th place after an error in her short program, noting how Glenn "killed it" during her free skate performance that included a successful triple axel jump.

🏷️ Themes

Olympic achievement, American sports success, Figure skating competition

📚 Related People & Topics

Alysa Liu

Alysa Liu

American figure skater (born 2005)

Alysa Liu (born August 8, 2005) is an American figure skater. She is a 2026 Olympic Games team event gold medalist, the 2025 World champion, 2022 World bronze medalist, 2025–26 Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time Grand Prix medalist, a four-time Challenger Series champion, and a two-time U.S. nati...

View Profile → Wikipedia ↗
Figure skating

Figure skating

Ice sport performed on figure skates

Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are men's singles, women's singles, pair skatin...

View Profile → Wikipedia ↗
Ami Nakai

Ami Nakai

Japanese figure skater (born 2008)

Ami Nakai (中井 亜美, Nakai Ami; born April 27, 2008) is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2026 Winter Olympics bronze medalist, 2026 Four Continents silver medalist, the 2025-26 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, the 2025 Grand Prix de France champion, and the 2025 Skate Canada International bronze m...

View Profile → Wikipedia ↗
Kaori Sakamoto

Kaori Sakamoto

Japanese figure skater (born 2000)

Kaori Sakamoto (坂本花織, Sakamoto Kaori; born April 9, 2000) is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2026 Olympic silver medalist, 2022 Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time Olympic team event silver medalist (2022, 2026), a three-time World champion (2022–2024), the 2025 World silver medalist, the 2018 ...

View Profile → Wikipedia ↗

Entity Intersection Graph

Connections for Alysa Liu:

🌐 Figure skating 13 shared
🌐 Winter Olympic Games 6 shared
🌐 United States national team 5 shared
👤 Amber Glenn 4 shared
👤 Isabeau Levito 3 shared
View full profile
Original Source
World Alysa Liu wins gold for U.S. in women's figure skating at 2026 Winter Olympics By Kerry Breen Kerry Breen News Editor Kerry Breen is a news editor at CBSNews.com. A graduate of New York University's Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News' TODAY Digital. She covers current events, breaking news and issues including substance use. Read Full Bio Kerry Breen Updated on: February 19, 2026 / 5:10 PM EST / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Alysa Liu won a gold medal in women's individual figure skating on Thursday, making her the first U.S. woman to take the Olympic podium in the event since 2006. Japan's Kaori Sakamoto took silver and Ami Nakai, also of Japan, took the bronze. The last American woman to earn a medal in individual figure skating was Sasha Cohen, who took home silver in 2006. Sarah Hughes was the last American woman to take home a gold medal, in 2002 — four years before Liu was even born. Michelle Kwan also won a bronze medal at those Olympics. This is Liu's second gold medal. Liu, 20, started the free skate competition in third place, behind Japan's Nakai and Sakamoto, following the short program on Tuesday. Isabeau Levito, 18, was in eighth place, while Amber Glenn, 26, was in 13th place after an error in her short program. Glenn was the first U.S. skater to take the ice for her free skate. After failing to complete a triple loop on Tuesday , her score going into the free skate was 67.39. During Thursday's skate, she nailed a triple axel, though she had to catch herself with her hand after nearly falling during her final loop. She scored 147.52, for a total score of 214.91. Photos captured Glenn embracing her coach after her skate. Glenn looked visibly thrilled, smiling and jumping for joy. Despite entering the free skate in 13th place, she was at the top of the leaderboard for much of the event, finally being unseated by Japanese skater Mone Chiba. Glenn ended the competition in fifth place. Liu praised Glenn's pop-s...
Read full article at source

Source

cbsnews.com

More from USA

News from Other Countries

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

🇺🇦 Ukraine