US Women's Olympic Figure Skating 2026 Free Skate Scorers, Highlights, Reaction

Team USA's Alysa Liu brought her best in Thursday's free skate at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics and earned America's first gold medal in women's figure skating in 24 years.

Liu earned a season-best score of 150.20 in the free skate, and combined with her 76.59 in Tuesday's short program, she totaled 226.79 to finish in first place. The 20-year-old put forth an energetic routine full of impressive combinations to earn her first career individual Olympic medal and become the first American woman to bring home the gold since Sarah Hughes in 2002.

The final podium for the individual women's figure skating competition is as follows:

• Gold: Alysa Liu, USA (226.79)
• Silver: Kaori Sakamoto, Japan (224.90)
• Bronze: Ami Nakai, Japan (219.16)

Liu, the reigning world champion, was Team USA's highest scorer in the short program and entered the day in third place behind Japan's Ami Nakai and Kaori Sakamoto. Despite trailing, she was relaxed and loose as she gracefully made her way through her routine to earn the gold medal.

This also marked Team USA's first Olympic medal in women's figure skating since Sasha Cohen's silver medal in 2006. In addition to Liu's gold-medal performance, her teammates had a solid showing on Thursday.

Amber Glenn rebounded from her disastrous short program, nailing her triple axel and earning a season-best score of 147.52 on Thursday for a total of 214.91, placing fifth. It was an emotional return to form for the 26-year-old after a missed element on Tuesday had her enter the day in 13th. She held the lead until the final group of skaters took the ice.

18-year-old Isabeau Levito placed 12th with a score of 131.96 in the free skate and a total score of 202.80. She had some shaky moments early in her routine but overcame the tough start for a strong finish in her first career Olympic Games.

Liu and Glenn already earned a gold medal at this year's Winter Games after Team USA won the figure skating team event.

Now, Liu has the distinction of earning the top spot on the podium at the Winter Olympics, and she will go down in history as one of the greatest American figure skaters of her generation.