MILAN — Alysa Liu never set out to be an Olympic gold medalist.
When she returned to figure skating after a two-year hiatus, she wanted to show the world what she could do, her creativity and her art, and who she was as a person.
Anything beyond that was simply a bonus.
But while it might not have been her intention, Liu will leave Italy with not one, but two gold medals.
succumbed to pressure during the Games and have spoken openly about the mental toll the Olympics and all of the attention can take, Liu never showed any such signs. During her three skates — once in the team event and twice in the individual — she never once appeared flustered or frustrated. She just looked to be someone who loved to skate and was doing it for themself.
She didn’t know it yet, but Alysa Liu’s spectacular free skate would win her Olympic GOLD. 👏 #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/LzMCkvwGMf
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 19, 2026
«She has this ‘Oh, if I want to do something, I guess I could just go try and do it’ quality about her,» Ashley Wagner, who helped lead the U.S. team to the bronze medal in the team event in 2014, told ESPN ahead of the Olympics. «It really is that simple. And the only thing that often gets in people’s way is themselves. And Alysa takes that rigidity of thought and just completely blows it away and shows up and delivers because she’s just skating …
«Her ‘Why’ is so pure. I work in sports psychology now and it’s so healthy to demonstrate to athletes that when you’re emotionally connected to your why, you see results.»
In an interview with ESPN last fall, Liu said everything she does at this stage in her career has a purpose.
«I’m so intentional now,» Liu said. «I’m so grounded. Everything I do has a reason for why I do it.»
No figure skating federation arrived in Milan with higher hopes than the United States.
At those world championships, less than a year ago, the country claimed three of the four titles in Boston, and a massive medal haul in Milan seemed not just possible, but probable.
And it wasn’t just the victors from that event — Liu, Malinin, Madison Chock and Evan Bates — that had fans excited. All three American women finished in the top five — something that hadn’t happened since 2001.
Isabeau Levito, who won silver at the 2024 worlds, came in fourth. Glenn, who had been among the favorites entering the competition after a previously undefeated season including winning the Grand Prix Final title, rallied for fifth after struggling in her short program.
Top spots on multiple podiums seemed like a near certainty after an incredible national championships in January.
Of course, as so often happens on sports’ grandest stage, everything didn’t go to plan. Far from it, in fact.
First, there was an up-and-down team event. Malinin had a nervy short program, as did Glenn in her free skate, and the Japanese team was a formidable foe.
But ultimately, largely thanks to Liu’s strong start, Chock and Bates’ unwavering consistency in the ice dance competition and a clutch pairs free skate performance by Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, the U.S. ever so narrowly ended up with the gold medal. The one-point margin separating the U.S. and Japan was the smallest deficit in the event’s history.
Alysa Liu is in her element in her short program on the Olympic ice. 😍 pic.twitter.com/prbAVw1OlQ
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 6, 2026
It seemed like another sign of good things to come for the Americans. But one day later, Chock and Bates came in a stunning second place in the rhythm dance segment of the individual event. Despite controversy and global speculation about unfair judging, they earned the silver medal. As the three-time reigning world champions, it was a shocking result — and the two couldn’t hide their disappointment.
However, that podium surprise was quickly overshadowed as Malinin, the leader after the men’s short program, imploded during his free skate. After landing his first quad jump, the 21-year-old bailed out of his famed quad axel in the air and soon after completely unraveled, doubling a quad loop and falling twice. Prior to the Olympics he hadn’t lost a competition since 2023. He ended up in eighth place.
He told reporters after his skate that he was flooded with negative thoughts at the start of his program and simply couldn’t recover.
The pairs competition didn’t fare any better, although that was expected as a relative weak spot for the country in recent years. Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe came in seventh, and Kam and O’Shea finished in ninth.
But it all led up to the sport’s final event, and its crown jewel, the women’s singles competition.
After weeks of hype, social media fan edits and even a Taylor Swift-narrated promo video, the self-nicknamed «Blade Angels,» Liu, Levito and Glenn, were ready to take the stage. All three were skating in the final group during the short program, each with the chance to end the country’s 20-year medal drought in the event.
Liu had a strong start for the trio, showcasing her artistry with a near-perfect skate and a breathtaking performance. Levito followed with a clean and, in her words, «elegant,» program that wowed the crowd but didn’t score highly, landing her in eighth.
And Glenn, skating in the penultimate position, looked poised for medal contention as she landed her opening triple axel. But she later doubled her planned triple loop, resulting in it being deemed an invalid element and earning zero points for it. Her devastation was immediately apparent. She cried while waiting for her score. She received a 67.39, putting her in 13th place.
Liu told reporters she was disappointed for Glenn, a close friend.
«She’s overcome a lot, and I just want her to be happy,» Liu said. «That’s genuinely all I want. And so I’ll be seeing her later. Don’t worry guys, we stick together.»
Entering the free skate, Liu was in third place and just over two points out of the lead. Levito was in eighth. The trio of Japanese skaters made up the rest of the top four, and Russian enigma Adeliia Petrosian — who had minimal international experience but teased a quad jump — was in fifth.
Glenn set the tone Thursday with a redemptive high-flying and high-scoring performance that catapulted her to an early lead, where she remained until the final four skaters took the ice.
But it was Liu, and her disco-themed program set to Donna Summer’s «MacArthur Park Suite,» that had nearly everyone in the arena, including a supportive Malinin, on their feet by its conclusion. With her season’s-best score of 150.20, for a 226.79 total, she claimed the top spot in the standings and guaranteed herself a medal, with Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai left to compete.
There was no apparent worry or envy for Liu as she watched both of the final skaters. Instead, she clapped along and stood excitedly in celebration when they were both done. But when Nakai’s score was announced, it was Glenn, who finished in fifth place, who grabbed Liu’s hand and held it up in victory.
It was a moment that embodied the journey of the American figure skating team as a whole. It seemed a victory for one was a victory for all, and Liu — the antithesis of the «ice princess» stereotype that has plagued the sport for so many years — was simultaneously the most surprising and fitting person to get everything back on track.
Though it wasn’t exactly the outcome the country had hoped for overall, and Japan won more medals across the five skating events than the U.S. did, it still marked a return to form on the sport’s highest stage.
After worlds, and following the enthusiasm after the national championships, it was supposed to be a moment for figure skating in the country, a renaissance harkening back to the glory days. While skaters of past generations were household names, the sport has waned in popularity. Malinin in particular, with his impressive athleticism and an almost parkour style at times, looked as if he could be a crossover star, as well as bring in a new generation.
In the end, it was Liu who ended up in the middle of the podium and who will likely become a national superstar in the coming days and weeks.
But through her triumphant tale of return, as well as the candor and vulnerability of Malinin, Glenn and Chock and Bates in defeat, and the camaraderie displayed by everyone in the American contingent throughout the Games, it might have done something even more important.
«Her story of taking a step back, mental health — I think it really attests to you never know what the journey to success is going to be,» Glenn told reporters. «I really hope that can reach the skating community, that it’s OK to take time.»
