2026 Winter Olympics: Alysa Liu claims gold, snapping 20-year drought for US figure skating

Alysa Liu delivered a spectacular performance to win the gold medal at the Milano Cortina Games , marking the end of the United States’ medal drought at the Winter Olympics.

Her victory is a big deal because it’s the first time an American woman has won an Olympic medal in the event in 20 years.

Liu performed with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and landed every jump perfectly in her Donna Summer disco-themed free skate.

In this nail-biting competition, Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai from Japan won silver and bronze medals respectively.

"When I was skating, hearing the cheers, I felt so connected with the audience. I want to be out there again," Liu said while expressing her emotions during the game.

"The way I felt out there was calm, happy and confident. I've been having fun. This experience is really cool,” she added.

The 20-year-old’s recent victory showed her spectacular comeback after the four years of uncertainty whether she would be returned or not.

Liu performed perfectly, landing all seven of her triple jumps. The crowd cheered for her when she performed three jumps in back-to-back sequences. She finished the competition with a total score of 226.79 points and earned a standing ovation.

After claiming the highly-coveted gold medal in the Olympics, Liu became the first American woman to win women figure skating gold since Sarah Hughes in 2002.