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Alyssa Liu is Team USA’s last hope to win an individual gold medal in figure skating at the Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina.
Liu, the reigning world champion, was the only one of the American women’s figure skating stars to put herself in contention for gold after Tuesday night’s short program.
Liu completed a triple Lutz-triple loop, the most difficult combination a woman had attempted, and found herself just two points behind leader Ami Nakai and just behind 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 Arena at the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games on February 17, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Tim Clayton/Getty Images)
“I’m really happy with the way I skated,” Liu said after the competition. “And my brothers and sisters and my best friends and a lot of my family are there. And I saw them during warmups. I also saw them during my program, so, I don’t know. It was a really cool moment, because they never come and watch like that. I’m really happy that I did super well. I felt super grounded and connected to my program on another level.”
American skater Amber Glenn finished 13th, missing just one place to advance. Glenn was seen walking off the ice in tears.
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Alysa Liu poses for a photo after the announcement of the Milan 2026 Olympic figure skating team at the Enterprise Center on January 11, 2026. (Jeff Curry/Imagn Images)
Isabeau Levito was criticized for underrotating her triple loop and was leveled for her step sequence, where she tends to score points during competition. That left her in eighth place and with a long chance of a podium finish on Thursday night.
Other American skating stars had similarly disappointing individual results in Milan Cortina after the United States won team gold last week.
Alysa Liu of Team USA competes in the women’s individual skating short program on day eleven of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Milan Ice Rink on February 17, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Skating power couple Madison Chock and Evan Bates ended up with silver in ice dancing thanks in part to questionable scores from a French judge. Meanwhile, two-time world champion and Olympic favorite Ilia Malinin shockingly collapsed in the men’s free skate after falling twice in the men’s final on Friday, finishing in eighth place.
Now all the pressure is on Liu to make sure Team USA doesn’t go home without an individual gold medal in figure skating.
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“I don’t think about things like that,” Liu said when asked if she could beat her Japanese rivals. “Whether I beat them or not is not my goal. My goal is just to perform my programs and share my story and I don’t need to be above or below anyone to do that.”
