20-year-old delivers near-flawless free skate
Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai win silver and bronze
Alysa Liu completed a stunning comeback to competitive figure skating by winning the first Olympic women’s figure skating gold medal for the United States in 24 years on Thursday night.
The 20-year-old from Clovis, California, who vanished from the sport nearly four years ago uncertain if she’d ever return, delivered a career-best long program to overtake Japanese rivals Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai. Skating in a shimmering gold dress to Donna Summer’s MacArthur Park Suite, Liu cleanly landed all seven of her triple jumps, including three in combination, and drew a standing ovation before finishing with 226.79 points overall.
“That’s what I’m fucking talking about,” Liu said as she left the ice. As the scores were announced she shook her head with knowing approval while she was hugged by her coaches, Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali.
