Winter Games: Alysa Liu delivers a gold-medal comeback in figure skating

American Alysa Liu, who had finished third in the short program, came from behind in the free to become Olympic champion in the women's individual event of figure skating in Milan. Liu, who returned two seasons ago after a retirement and is the reigning world champion, scored a total of 226.79 points. That allowed her to finish atop the podium ahead of two Japanese skaters: Kaori Sakamoto, who took silver with 224.90 points, and 17-year-old Ami Nakai, who won bronze with 219.16 points.

At 20 years old, the Californian reconquered for the United States the tournament in women's figure skating, where her country had not triumphed in an Olympic Games since Sarah Hughes in Salt Lake City 2002. It is the eighth time an American has taken gold in this event.

In the stands was Tenley Albright, the first U.S. figure skater to take Olympic gold, in her case at Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956.

U.S. gets over the bad news of Malinin's fall in men's event

For Liu it is his second gold in these Games, after being crowned at the start of the event with the United States in the team event.

His victory also serves to turn the page on the bad experience for the United States in the men's individual event, where the ultra-favorite Ilia Malinin faltered badly in the free program and dropped to eighth place.

Madness to the rhythm of Donna Summer

With her brindle hair, with brunette and blonde parts, and her golden uniform, she brought the Milano Ice Skating Arena into a frenzy with a disco routine set to music by Donna Summer, skating with remarkable confidence and bringing the audience to its feet. Her spectacular program allowed her to improve four points on her best result of the current season.

"I was very calm when I started. I have a breathing technique that I use throughout this program and I just made sure to focus on that, be as fluid as possible and look at the audience in all my transitions," Liu explained. "I did that and I felt everyone's energy. I felt my energy. I felt good, I felt confident and I gave it my all out there," she noted.

A precocious genius and an atypical career

Liu's career is atypical: she was a child prodigy who at 13 became the youngest U.S. champion in history but at 16, in 2022, surprised by announcing her retirement.

She returned to competition at the start of last season and crowned that course by succeeding at the Boston World Cup. The gold in Milan confirms her status as the current star of women's skating.

Sakamoto's silver tears at her farewell

For Sakamoto, the silver leaves a bitter taste because of how the contest went and for having squandered the lead she had over Liu after the short program.

The Japanese skater, who performed to songs by Edith Piaf, left the rink in tears, in what was her farewell competition, aware that she missed a great opportunity to win a title missing from her collection. The silver medal at least improves on the bronze she won four years ago at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

In the last Olympic cycle, Sakamoto stood out with three world titles (2022, 2023, 2024) and became very popular for both her results and her charisma.

Russia's Adeliia Petrosian (18), the only Russian skater allowed to compete in these Games, was the only one to attempt a quadruple jump, but she fell on the landing. Her free program, set to tango music, featured seven triple jumps. She finally finished sixth, with 214.53 points.