Alysa Liu dazzles to win figure skating gold, ending a 24-year Olympic drought for US women

MILAN — 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.

''That's what I'm (expletive) talking about!'' Liu shouted into the lens.

People will be talking about her for quite a while.

The 20-year-old from the San Francisco Bay Area, who walked away from the sport before finding her way back again — and finding herself in the process — delivered the U.S. its first women's 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.

The moment Nakai's 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's hand in triumph. Liu sheepishly turned and applauded the 17-year-old Nakai, who raced over and hugged her.

''Her story of taking a step back, mental health — I think it rally attests to you never know what the journey to success is doing to be,'' said Glenn, who finished fifth. ''I really hope that can reach the skating community, that it's OK to take time.''

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.

Liu has done a whole lot of growing up over the years.

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.

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.

Even during warmups Thursday night, Liu skated with a grin on her face, never showing any outward signs of pressure.

Glenn skated long before her friend and teammate, the unfortunate byproduct of a disastrous short program Tuesday night. But she rebounded in spectacular fashion, and Glenn's season-best free skate gave her a score of 214.91 that nearly made the podium, too.

''It was nice to watch some great figure skating up close,'' Glenn said.

She wound up sitting there for quite a while.

Adeliia Petrosian, an 18-year-old Russian competing as a neutral athlete, tried the only quadruple jump during the women's competition but fell on the quad toe loop. She was clean the rest of the way, but the points Petrosian lost on that fall ended up leaving her less than a half-point behind Glenn in the leader's chair.

''I feel a little ashamed,'' Petrosian said after taking a few minutes to compose herself, ''for myself, for the federation, for my coaches and for the spectators that it went this way. I understand that it's my own fault.''

It wasn't until Chiba — the ninth skater to follow Glenn onto the ice — that the three-time U.S. champ was bumped from the top spot.

Liu, who last year captured the first world title by an American woman since 2006, was perfect from her opening triple flip to her closing combination sequence. As the last bits of Donna Summer's rendition of ''MacArthur Park'' faded away, and the roar of the fans filled the void, the carefree Liu gave a casual flip of her ponytail as if to say, ''So what?''

Her coaches, Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali, were a little more rambunctious. They punched the air, then gave each other a big hug, before heading over to greet their star pupil when she stepped off the ice to await her score.

The score that ultimately would give her an Olympic title and end a long drought for U.S. women.

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