Alysa Liu became the first American woman to win an individual Olympic gold medal in figure skating in 24 years. The 20-year-old Oakland native delivered an electrifying performance during the women’s free skate program on Thursday to surge atop the podium.
Liu started the day in third place after posting a 76.59 short program score behind Japan’s Ami Nakai and Kaori Sakamoto. As the third-to-last skater of the event, Liu put together a near flawless program while skating to Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park.” She received roars from the crowd as she skated with confidence and ease. The positivity exuded off of her with every jump and artistic sequence, culminating with a career-best score of 226.79.
Liu posted a whopping 150.20 score in the free skate, but had to wait out the programs of Sakamoto and Nakai to learn her fate. However, minor deductions to both Japanese skaters ensured Liu would walk away with gold. Her free skate program was nearly three points higher than the silver medalist, Sakamoto.
Liu finished with a combined score of 226.79, while her American teammates Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito finished fifth and 12th, respectively.
At no point during Liu’s performance did she appear to be bothered by the pressure. Even after she received her score, it was all smiles.
No shocked reaction, no tears of joy. Just pure happiness.
It’s the perfect storybook ending for Liu, who briefly — and abruptly — retired from figure skating in 2022 at the age of 16. At the time, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of everything from school classes to entire professional sports seasons, Liu’s local rink in the Bay Area closed. That provided her something she hadn’t had since she started skating at five years old: a break. That forced break from skating made the idea of leaving the sport forever enticing to Liu, and so she walked away.
This wasn’t just any figure skater who decided to call it a career. Liu is a prodigy. She began competing in major competitions at the age of 10. By 13, she became the youngest U.S. women’s national champion ever. At 14, Liu became the youngest skater to win two senior national titles. In 2019, she became the first U.S. female figure skater to land a quadruple jump in an international competition.
Liu was at the peak of her powers. But she was satisfied with everything she had accomplished at the time, and decided to move on.
“It was a crucial time in my life,” Liu told 60 Minutes in an interview before the Olympics began. “I was 16 and college was coming up. Like, I wanted to do so much. I went to Nepal and I trekked to Everest Base Camp. Me and my friends would do tons of road trips. I was really just livin’ it up. I would say it was my best life.”
But after two years of quality time with friends and family, and traveling around the world, Liu got the itch to compete again. In 2024 she made her triumphant return, and surprised many in her ability to essentially pick right back up where she left things with no skill loss.
If Liu was to return, though, she wanted to do things differently.
“I get to pick my own program music,” Liu said. “I get to help with the creative process of the program. If I feel like I’m skating too much, I’ll back down. If I feel like I’m not skating enough I’ll ramp it up. No one’s gonna starve me or tell me what I can and can’t eat.”
Her coach, Phillip DiGuglielmo, said she returned to the sport a better skater.
“For many years she was dropped off at the rink,” DiGuglielmo said. “She was told what to do. Now she comes in, and it is all collaborative.”
Since returning in 2024, Liu became a world champion in 2025. That made her the first American woman to win a world title since since Kimmie Meissner in 2006. Her career has reached new heights in ways she never expected.
Now, two years after making her return to the sport, Liu is a gold medalist on the biggest stage. She became the first American woman to win an individual gold since Sarah Hughes in 2002 and the eighth American woman overall to accomplish that feat.
