MILAN (AP) \u2014 Alysa Liu had just delivered a near-flawless Olympic free skate on Thursday night, one that left a packed crowd inside the Milano Ice Skating Arena standing and roaring, when a television camera zoomed in on the American star as she was heading off the ice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019m (expletive) talking about!\u201d Liu shouted into the lens.<\/p>\n
People will be talking about her for quite a while.<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old from the San Francisco Bay Area, who walked away from the sport<\/a> before finding her way back again \u2014 and finding herself in the process \u2014 delivered the U.S. its first women\u2019s figure skating gold medal in 24 years. She finished with 226.79 points to upstage Japanese teammates Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai, who took silver and bronze at the Milan Cortina Games<\/a>.<\/p>\n The moment Nakai\u2019s score was read after the final program of the night, U.S. teammate Amber Glenn jumped onto the kiss-and-cry stand and raised Liu\u2019s hand in triumph. Liu sheepishly turned and applauded the 17-year-old Nakai, who raced over and hugged her.<\/p>\n \u201cHer story of taking a step back, mental health \u2014 I think it rally attests to you never know what the journey to success is doing to be,\u201d said Glenn, who finished fifth<\/a>. \u201cI really hope that can reach the skating community, that it\u2019s OK to take time.\u201d<\/p>\n 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 and Glenn helped the Americans win team gold<\/a>.<\/p>\n The latest medal blended right into Liu\u2019s glittering gold-sequined dress, only the blue ribbon standing out. And it seemed the perfect complement to the golden stripes through her dark brown hair, which are meant to resemble the growth rings on a tree.<\/p>\n Liu has done a whole lot of growing up over the years.<\/p>\n She was the youngest U.S. champion ever when she won the first of back-to-back titles at 13 years old. But after finishing sixth at the Beijing Games, Liu was so burned out that she abruptly retired. She spent the next two years doing bucket-list things like climbing up to the base camp of Mount Everest and enrolling at UCLA, where she is studying psychology.<\/p>\n It was after a skiing trip, when Liu felt the same adrenaline rush that came with skating, that she contemplated a comeback. But this time, she would be skating on her terms, more happy-go-lucky and self-assured than she had been as a childhood prodigy.<\/p>\n Even during warmups Thursday night, Liu skated with a grin on her face, never showing any outward signs of pressure.<\/p>\n Glenn skated long before her friend and teammate, the unfortunate byproduct of a disastrous short program<\/a> Tuesday night. But she rebounded in spectacular fashion, and Glenn\u2019s season-best free skate gave her a score of 214.91 that nearly made the podium, too.<\/p>\n Glenn pumped her first and fought back tears when her score was read, then she took a seat in the new \u201cleader\u2019s chair.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was nice to watch some great figure skating up close,\u201d Glenn said.<\/p>\n She wound up sitting there for quite a while.<\/p>\n