Alysa Liu wins gold in Milan with a dream comeback
The 20-year-old athlete snagged her second medal at this year's Olympics, despite stepping away from figure skating four years ago
Alysa Liu skated to Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park" during the free skate program.
NBC Sports
Words by Helen Li
Alysa Liu shimmered in brand-new gold sequins for her Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park” free skate program. She completed all of her jumps clean, slid onto the ice on her knees, ending with her finger pointed to the air in a pose after her Biellmann spin. She did it all with a huge grin on her face, her signature smiley piercing, and a new halo hairdo.
“That’s what I’m f*cking talking about!” she yelled as she fist pumped for the camera.
20-year-old Liu won the 2026 Milan Women’s Figure Skating Olympic gold medal, ending a 24-year-long gold medal drought for the United States since 2002’s Sarah Hughes.
Team Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto, who was long favored for the gold medal and has been dominant during the past quad, finished second, less than two points behind Liu’s 226.79 score. The three-time Olympian made a mistake on her triple flip and planned triple toe combination, downgrading her base point value. Her fellow teammate, 17-year-old Ami Nakai, came in third after leading in the short program.
Liu celebrated her win by also jumping up and down and embracing Nakai, who at first did not realize that she had won bronze.
Liu is now a double Olympic gold medalist from this Milan cycle, adding to her team gold medal from last week. This was all unfathomable just a year ago when she was in the midst of a comeback. In 2022, the Bay Area native retired shortly after going to the Winter Olympics in Beijing to spend time with her family and friends, travel, and attend college, before finding her spark again for skating.
When she was younger, her father played a major role in her skating. She also faced challenging comments about her at-home Chinese food diet from a previous coaching team. It got to the point where Liu no longer felt a connection to her craft.
Older and ready to take on more responsibility, she took things into her own hands with creating program choreography, designing costumes, and working with her coaching team, Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali. She went on to win gold in her first season back at the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships in Boston.
“I hope that with all of this attention, I can at least raise awareness about mental health in sports, mental health in general,” she said at the post-medal ceremony press conference. “I think the most important part of my story is human connection.”
The Milan Olympics also mark the first time Liu’s siblings and extended family have been able to come watch her skate on such a stage. She briefly reunited with them.
“Xiè xie la, xiè xie la,” she thanked after a relative complimented her skate in Mandarin with “tài bng la“ or “awesome.”
On social media, hundreds of people posted that they felt joy from Liu’s infectious skate. Her Instagram follower count went from under 200,000 to more than 4.9 million, with thousands of comments focused on how her journey is inspiring others to chase their own dreams.
“What is there to lose? Every second you are [at the Olympics] is something to be gained, you know what I’m saying?” Liu said last month when she was asked if she felt pressure during a press conference after the U.S. Olympic Figure Skating team was announced. “I can’t think of anything that I would find stressful or anything that could bring me down.”
As the Olympics close, Liu is most excited to debut her new gala program to the remixed song “Stateside” by PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson, focused on performing once again on the big stage for a crowd.
Published on February 24, 2026
Words by Helen Li
Helen Li is a journalist and fact-checker based in Los Angeles. Her work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Rest of World, Semafor, and Business Insider. In her free time, she appreciates a good hike, watches NCAA gymnastics, and occasionally dives into Reddit rabbit holes where she finds fascinating stories. She also just completed her first women's rugby 15s season. You can reach her on Signal @hliwrites.99.