Four years ago, Alysa Liu retired after the 2022 Beijing Games.
On Thursday night at the Winter Olympic Games in Milan, she won the gold medal in the women’s individual figure skating competition. She became the first American woman in over 20 years to stand atop the podium at the Olympics in the women’s individual.
Liu, who was upfront about not caring about where she finished, said she wanted people to remember her performances more than her scores. She did that on Thursday, performing the best free skate program of her career in a flawless routine that won her the gold medal.
The American prodigy who won her first national title at 13 combined technical excellence, artistry, and pure fun in her gold medal-winning skate, equally mesmerizing and exciting the crowd.
After winning the gold medal, the first thing Liu did was not jump up and down in celebration. Instead, she walked over to the young frontrunner, 17-year-old Ami Nakai, to console her and give her a hug.
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Nakai made history of her own these Olympics by becoming the fifth woman ever to execute a triple axel at the Games. The youngster won the short program on Tuesday but couldn’t match the experience of Liu or fellow Japanese skater Kaori Sakamoto.
Liu hugged Nakai and spent a few moments with her before fully realizing what she had just accomplished: winning the individual gold medal.
The 20-year-old will leave Milan with two gold medals around her neck, having also won the team event earlier in the event. In that competition, she lost out to Sakamoto individually.
But on the night it mattered most, Liu pulled through to create one of the best comeback stories in Olympic history.
