Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Alysa Liu skated with poise, grace and beauty Thursday in Milan, Italy, to capture the United States' first Olympic gold medal in women's figure skating in nearly a quarter century.
In a gold sequined dress, the 20-year-old reigning world champion was daring as she dazzled and danced through her program set to Donna Summer's disco classic MacArthur Park, scoring 150.20 points to finish first in the free skate.
Though strong, it wasn't not the field's most technical planned dance of Thursday's performances. But Liu's routine was brimming with energy, her execution was flawless and she was dynamic, earning a season best 150.20 points from the free skate on Thursday that was more than a point higher than the runner-up, Kaori Sakamoto of Japan.
Combined with her 76.59 points from the short program, Liu scored 226.79 points, nearly two points higher than silver medalist Sakamoto.
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