Alysa Liu delivered the US its first women’s figure skating Olympic gold medal in 24 years, performing a near-flawless free skate on Thursday night to upstage Japanese rivals Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai.
The 20-year-old, who had walked away from the sport after the Beijing Games four years ago only to launch a remarkable comeback, finished with a career-best 226.79 points. Nakai and Sakamoto, skating behind her, each made a mistake on a combination sequence, and that made the difference in the medals.
Sakamoto had 224.90 points to earn a silver to go with her bronze from Beijing. Nakai finished third with 219.16 points.
The moment Nakai’s score was read after the final program of the night, teammate Amber Glenn jumped on to the kiss-and-cry stand and raised Liu’s hand in triumph. Liu sheepishly turned and applauded the 17-year-old Nakai, who raced over and hugged her.
It’s the first gold medal for an American woman since 2002, when Sarah Hughes stood atop the podium in Salt Lake City.
Glenn finished in fifth behind Mone Chiba of Japan, a stunning rebound from a disastrous short program on Tuesday night. Her season-best free skate gave a score of 214.91 points, and nearly landed her on the podium as well.
