Alysa Liu grabbed headlines on Thursday after her triumphant performance in the women’s free skate at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Liu entered the medal competition in third after she finished behind Japanese skaters Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai in the short program. The American figure skating star scored 150.20 in the free skate after an awe-inspiring routine. This brought her tally to 226.79, which was enough to lift her to victory.
Liu rewrote the history books with this win. She is the first American to win an individual Olympic gold medal in free skate in 24 years. Liu, 20, was not even born when Sarah Hughes won gold in the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics.
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Liu was overjoyed after her gold-medal victory was confirmed. She wore a big smile throughout the medal ceremony as she proudly showed off her new hardware.
However, Liu made a candid admission about her gold medal shortly after her historic performance.
"I don't need this [medal]," Liu told reporters. "But what I needed was the stage and I got that, so I was all good. No matter what happened."
It’s not that Liu does not appreciate the symbolic significance of her gold medal. After all, she poured countless hours of hard work into achieving her ultimate goal.
For Liu, however, the gold medal is just the icing on the cake. Her objective was to showcase her talent on the grandest of stages. She did just that on Thursday with a near-flawless performance. Winning gold was a bonus.
"I think my story is more important than anything to me, and that's what I hold dear," Liu said. "And this journey has been incredible, and my life has just been — I have no complaints and I'm just so grateful for everything."
Liu’s victory in the 2026 Olympics is a full-circle moment for the Clovis, California, native. Four years ago, she walked away from the sport after falling out of love with figure skating. She retired at just 16, months after failing to medal in the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Liu returned to competition in 2024. She worked extremely hard to get back to the top, and her free skate gold is her crowning moment.