U.S. Olympian Alysa Liu advances quest to win individual medal amid U.S. skating disappointments
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Alyssa Liu is Team USA’s last hope for an individual gold medal in figure skating at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Liu, the reigning world champion, was the only one of the U.S. women’s figure skating stars to put herself in contention for gold after Tuesday night’s short program.
Liu landed a triple Lutz-triple loop, the most difficult combination any woman has ever attempted, and sat just two points behind leader Ami Nakai and just behind her Japanese teammate Kaori Sakamoto in the standings.
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Alysa Liu of the United States performs her routine during the figure skating short program, women’s single skating, at the Milan Ice Skating Stadium at the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games on February 17, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Tim Clayton/Getty Images)
“I’m very happy with how I skated,” Liu said after the competition. “And my brothers and my best friends and a bunch of my family are out there. And I saw them in the warm-up. I also saw them during my show, so I don’t know. It was a really cool moment, because you never come to see something like that. I’m really happy that I did super well. I felt super connected to my show on another level.”
Fellow American skater Amber Glenn finished in 13th place, just one place away from advancing. Glenn was seen coming off the ice crying.
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Alysa Liu poses for a photo after the Milan 2026 Olympic Games figure skating team announcement at the Enterprise Center on January 11, 2026. (Jeff Curry/Image Images)
Isabeau Levito was criticized for insufficiently rotating her triple loop and was downgraded for her step sequence, which is where she tends to score points in competition. That left her in eighth place and with a good chance of making the podium on Thursday night.
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Other American skating stars have seen similarly disappointing individual results in Milan Cortina after the United States took team gold last week.
Alysa Liu of Team USA competes during the women’s single skating short program on day eleven of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 17, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Skating power couple Madison Chock and Evan Bates took silver in ice dancing thanks in part to a questionable score from a French judge. Meanwhile, two-time world champion and Olympic favorite Ilia Malinin surprisingly crashed out of the men’s free skate after falling twice during the men’s final on Friday, finishing in eighth place.
Now, all the pressure is on Liu to ensure Team USA doesn’t have to return home without an individual figure skating gold.
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“I don’t think about things like that,” Liu said when asked if she could beat her Japanese rivals. “Beating them or not is not my goal. My goal is just to do my shows and share my story and I don’t need to be above or below anyone to do that.”
The News contributed to this report.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to Title IX enforcement and in legacy media outlets, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The News and ESPN.com.