MILAN — Alysa Liu took her place on the top step of the Olympic podium and threw both hands in the air.
The U.S. figure skater who won her first national title at 13 years old, walked away from the sport at 16, came back at 18, became world champion at 19 was now an Olympic gold medalist at 20, the first American woman to capture individual gold since Sarah Hughes in 2002.
‘I literally can’t process this,’ she said shortly after winning.
Liu, who remains unapologetically herself, took a victory lap around around the Milano Ice Skating Arena, gold medal around her neck and an American flag draped over her shoulders.
She posed for photos, she bit her gold medal, she showed off her smiley frenulum piercing. She had just brought down the house with her electric free skate, the crowd leaping to its feet and the performance rocketing her into first from third place after her beautiful short program two days prior. She skated with pure joy, a wide smile on her face her whole program.
‘The feelings I felt out there were calm, happy, and confident,’ she said after.
When she came off the ice, she looked at the broadcast camera and said, ‘That’s what I’m (expletive) talking about!’
Liu’s teammate Amber Glenn turned in a fantastic free skate of her own to finish in fifth after sitting in 13th following her painful short program, showing herself and everyone what she’s made of. ‘She killed it,’ Liu said of Glenn.
USA TODAY Sports is at Milano Ice Skating Arena to bring you all the live updates, reactions and highlights.
Alysa Liu’s free skate
Alysa Liu absolutely rocked it with her long program performance, scoring a season-best 150.20 to total 226.79 points.
Amber Glenn free skate
Two days after a painful short program, Amber Glenn took the ice again here at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
Glenn, the 26-year-old American at her first Games, said entering the night she wanted to recapture the joy of skating, to truly enjoy and soak up the experience here, something that has been a lifelong dream.
“No matter how the elements go today, I want to remember that I never even thought that I’d get here so that, in itself, is an accomplishment, and doing it as my authentic self and standing for what I believe in,’ Glenn, who was in 13th place after the short program, told NBC before her performance.
She did that in her free skate. She opened with a spectacular with a triple Axel that reached incredible height and was simply a show of industrial strengh. The execution earned her 10.40 points, 0.34 higher than her short program triple Axel. When she finished, she gave her signature fist pump, the crowd showering stuffies onto the ice and cheers onto her. She scored a 147.52 to finish with a total of 214.91.
In the Kiss-and-Cry section while awaiting her scores, she could be heard saying: ‘I’m at the Olympics. I didn’t fall. I didn’t fall at the Olympics.’
Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu on their friendship
USA TODAY Sports’ Jordan Mendoza spoke to Amber Glenn and Alysa Liu on the tight friendship they have formed. Here’s what they said.
What Liu said about Glenn: ‘She’s just such a big sister to me. The idea that we compete against each other, it’s so weird to me. I really just see her as one of my friends and truly one of my teammates. I don’t know, doing things with her is really fun.’
When Glenn said about Liu: ‘It’s been great to have someone that has such a positive outlook on skating and on her career around me. And then on the flip side, I have an extra pair of tights if she rips them and doesn’t have a backup, or I have the schedule ready because she doesn’t have it.’
Women’s figure skating finals Olympics live results
Here are the standings for the women’s figure skating competition at the 2026 Winter Games.
Alysa Liu (USA): 226.79 total score, 150.20 free skate score, 76.59 short program score.
Kaori Sakamoto (Japan): 224.90 total score, 147.67 free skate score, 77.23 short program score.
Ami Nakai (Japan): 219.16 total score, 140.45 free skate score, 78.71 short program score.
Mone Chiba (Japan): 217.88 total score, 143.88 free skate score, 74.00 short program score.
Amber Glenn (USA): 214.91 total score, 147.52 free skate score, 67.39 short program score.
Adeliia Petrosian (Neutral Athlete): 214.53 total score, 141.64 free skate score, 72.89 short program score.
Niina Petrokina (Estonia): 210.82 total score, 141.19 free skate score, 69.63 short program score.
Haein Lee (Korea): 210.56 total score, 140.49 free skate score, 70.07 short program score.
Anastasiia Gubanova (Georgia): 209.99 total score, 138.22 free skate score, 71.77 short program score.
Sofia Samodelkina (Kazakhstan): 207.46 total score, 138.99 free skate score, 68.47 short program score.
Jia Shin (Korea): 206.68 total score, 141.02 free skate score, 65.66 short program score.
Isabeau Levito (USA): 202.80 total score, 131.96 free skate score, 70.84 short program score.
Lara Naki Gutmann (Italy): 195.75 total score, 134.19 free skate score, 61.56 short program score.
Loena Hendrickx (Belgium): 199.65 total score, 128.72 free skate score, 70.93 short program score.
Nina Pinzarrone (Belgium): 200.30 total score, 131.33 free skate score, 68.97 short program score.
Iida Karhunen (Finland): 192.79 total score, 127.73 free skate score, 65.06 short program score.
Julia Sauter (Romania): 190.93 total score, 127.80 free skate score, 63.13 short program score.
Olga Mikutina (Austria): 185.59 total score, 123.87 free skate score, 61.72 short program score.
Ruiyang Zhang (China): 178.03 total score, 118.65 free skate score, 59.38, short program score.
Ekaterina Kurakova (Poland): 173.37 total score, 113.23 free skate score, 60.14 short program score.
Livia Kaiser (Switzerland): 171.52 total score, 115.83 free skate score, 55.69 short program score.
Lorine Schild (France): 167.08 total score, 111.45 free skate score, 55.63 short program score.
Kimmy Repond (Switzerland): 159.54 total score, 100.34 free skate score, 59.20 short program score.
Mariia Seniuk (Israel): 152.61 total score, 94.00 free skate score, 58.61 short program score.
Women’s figure skating Olympics winners list
Here is who has medaled in women’s singles figure skating over the last four decades.
2026: Alysa Liu (USA), Kaori Sakamoto (Japan), Ami Nakai (Japan)
2022: ROC’s Anna Shcherbakova (gold), ROC’s Aleksandra Trusova (silver), Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto (bronze)
2018: ROC’s Alina Zagitova (gold), ROC’s Yevgeniya Medvedeva (silver), Canada’s Kaetlyn Osmond (bronze)
2014: Russia’s Adelina Sotnikova (gold), Korea’s Yu-Na Kim (silver), Italy’s Carolina Kostner (bronze)
2010: Korea’s Yu-Na Kim (gold), Japan’s Mao Asada (silver), Canada’s Joannie Rochette (bronze)
2006: Japan’s Shizuka Arakawa (gold), USA’s Sasha Cohen (silver), Russia’s Irina Slutskaya (bronze)
2002: USA’s Sarah Hughes (gold), Russia’s Irina Slutskaya (silver), USA’s Michelle Kwan (bronze)
1998: USA’s Tara Lipinski (gold), USA’s Michelle Kwan (silver), China’s Chen Lu (bronze)
1994: Ukraine’s Oksana Baiul (gold), USA’s Nancy Kerrigan (silver), China’s Chen Lu (bronze)
1992: USA’s Kristi Yamaguchi (gold), Japan’s Midori Ito (silver), USA’s Nancy Kerrigan (bronze)
1988: East Germany’s Katarina Witt (gold), Canada’s Elizabeth Manley (silver), USA’s Debi Thomas (bronze)
1984: East Germany’s Katarina Witt (gold), USA’s Rosalynn Sumners (silver), USSR’s Kira Ivanova (bronze)
How is figure skating scored?
A figure skating routine is made up of two scores: Technical elements score and program components score. The technical elements score is exactly what it sounds like: It’s for the jumps, spins and step sequences in a performance. The program components score is made of up composition, presentation and skating skills.
Figure skating jump types
Toe jump: A skater drives the toe pick of their non-takeoff foot into the ice to launch themselves into the air and generate momentum into the jump.
Toe loop: A skater takes off backward and lands on the same back edge of their blade.
Lutz: A skater moving backward jumps off the back outside edge of their skate and uses the toe-pick of their other skate to catapult into the air in the opposite direction and lands on the back outside edge of the picking leg.
Flip: A skater launches off the back inside edge of one skate and lands on the back outside edge of the other skate.
Edge jump: A skater takes off not with their toe pick but off the edge of their skate.
Salchow: A skater launches off the back inside edge of one skate and lands on the back outside edge of their other skate.
Axel: The only forward-facing jump, a skater lands on the back outside edge of their non-takeoff foot while traveling backward. The axel is the hardest jump because of the extra half-revolution that comes with a forward takeoff and a backward landing.
Loop: The skater jumps off a back outside edge of their skate and lands on the same edge.