Alysa Liu delivered the U.S. its first women’s figure skating Olympic gold medal in 24 years, performing a near-flawless free skate on Thursday night in a glittering golden dress to upstage Japanese rivals Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai at the Milan Cortina Games.
The 20-year-old from the San Francisco Bay Area, 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 right behind her, each made a mistake on a combination sequence, and that made the difference in the medals.
It was the first individual gold medal for an American woman since 2002, when Sarah Hughes stood atop the podium in Salt Lake City, and it was the second gold for Liu at the Milan Cortina Games. She helped the Americans win team gold.
Meanwhile, Glenn finished in fifth place behind Mone Chiba of Japan, a stunning rebound from her disastrous short program Tuesday night. Glenn’s season-best free skate gave a score of 214.91 points, and it just about landed her on the podium as well.
Glenn pumped her first and fought back tears when her score was read, then she took a seat in the new “leader’s chair.”
She wound up sitting there for quite a while.
It was Chiba — the ninth skater to follow the three-time U.S. champ — who finally took over first place.
That didn’t last long with Liu next on the ice.