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Home Uncategorized U.S. star Alysa Liu has secured Olympic gold, topping top competitors Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai. This historic victory cements her position at the pinnacle of international figure skating.
U.S. star Alysa Liu has secured Olympic gold, topping top competitors Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai. This historic victory cements her position at the pinnacle of international figure skating.
Uncategorized minh phuongt2 · February 22, 2026 · comments off U.S. star Alysa Liu tops Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai to take Olympic goldMilan – American Alysa Liu triumphed over a trio of Japanese skaters to take gold in the women’s singles competition on Thursday at the Milano Cortina Olympics, with Kaori Sakamoto taking silver in her final Olympic skate.
Ami Nakai earned bronze, while Mone Chiba finished fourth.
Xem bài viết này trên InstagramIt was a bittersweet result for Sakamoto, a three-time world champion who finishes her competitive career with three Olympic silver medals and a bronze.
“Honestly, I’m super frustrated that I couldn’t deliver here, considering how much I’ve worked to get to this point,” she said. “Yeah. It’s pretty disappointing.”
In June last year, Sakamoto announced she would retire from competition after the Milano Cortina Games and clearly had designs of finishing her glittering career at the top of the Olympic podium for the first time.
During the news conference for the three medalists, Sakamoto hinted that fans may see her at the Olympics again in the future, but in a different capacity.
“My coach told me that because I’m a silver medalist, I can nurture a future gold medalist as a coach,” she said. “So maybe you’ll see me as a coach at the Olympics.”
Liu was energized by the huge contingent of American fans in the stands and put together a nearly perfect program to the tune of “MacArthur Park Suite” by Donna Summer. The audience erupted as she finished her routine and again as her free skate score of 150.20 flashed on the scoreboard, giving her a total of 226.79.
“I was so calm when I started,” she said. “I have this breathing technique that I use throughout this program, and I was just making sure to lock in on that, be as smooth as I can and look out into the crowd during all my transitions. I did that, and I felt everyone’s energy. I felt my energy.”
Liu retired after finishing sixth at the Beijing Games and returned to skating in 2024.
“Oh, my god. (That decision) was just right,” she said.
Sakamoto was the penultimate skater on the day and skated cleanly and with her usual elegance as she soaked up the adoration of her fans. She failed to execute a planned triple flip combination, however, and that cost her valuable points.
The Kobe native, who skated to a medley that included the French classic “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien,” sobbed into the arms of her longtime coach Sonoko Nakano as she departed Olympic ice for the final time. She earned 147.67 points in the free skate for a total of 224.90, just shy of Liu’s score.
Nakai, skating last, executed a rare triple axel at the start of her routine, and that propelled her for the rest of her skate, though she expressed some regret that she couldn’t perform her entire routine at her absolute best.
“ I was really happy about nailing the axel, but then I messed up on the lutz and honestly, I felt a little bit of regret too,” she said.
In the high-pressure position of skating last at the Olympics, Nakai admitted to feeling some nerves, unlike in her previous skate.
“I started off feeling pretty nervous, but I was able to approach it with my usual self, my usual mindset. That part really felt good.”
She earned 140.45 in the free skate for a total of 219.16 points, a hair above Chiba at 217.88.
The 17-year-old Nakai led after the short program and was rewarded with a medal — and a legion of new fans — at her first Olympics.
Chiba, who has struggled with nerves at times in her young career, met the moment and skated confidently. She was precise with nearly all of her jumps on her way to a free skate score of 143.88, the fourth-best total of the night.
“There’s this frustration that’s hard to put into words,” she said. “But performing on this Olympic stage, feeling so happy and grateful while staying true to myself and staying calm, was truly a wonderful experience that will really carry over into future skating competitions.”
At the time, Chiba’s score knocked Amber Glenn out of the leader’s chair after the American recovered from a disappointing short program to put together one of the evening’s best free skates. Glenn finished fifth on the back of a 147.52 score in the free skate, which was third-best behind Liu and Sakamoto.
Skating in the last group, Adeliia Petrosian, who is from Russia but was competing as a neutral athlete, stumbled on her opening quad toe loop but put together a solid program from there, garnering 141.64 points in the free skate for a total of 214.53. She finished sixth overall.
The women’s singles caps a fantastic two weeks for Japan’s figure skaters in Milan, with the country amassing a national record six medals, double the total of any other nation in the competition.