Alysa Liu, the endearing free spirit from California's Bay Area, capped her unlikely comeback to the sport after a two-year break with a gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, the first for a U.S. woman since Sarah Hughes' win at the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.

Amber Glenn, the three-time and reigning U.S. champion, stormed back from a disappointing short program to place third in the free skate and fifth overall, while Isabeau Levito finished 12th.

Sasha Cohen's silver-medal finish at the 2006 Games in Torino, Italy, marked the last time a U.S. woman had earned an Olympic medal; a total of eight U.S. women now have won Olympic titles.

"Going into this free skate, I have a new dress that I was very excited to share on the big stage," Liu said. "I'm happy with how I skated. My family and I had dinner last night that was unbelievable. Another unbelievable feeling was hearing the cheers when I was skating, when I was done skating. I felt so connected with the audience. I want to be out there again."

Liu's exuberant step and choreographic sequences to "MacArthur Park" by Donna Summer were as impressive as her jumps, and two of her three supple and well-centered spins gained Level 4s, as did her step sequence. Her free skate score, 150.20 points, is a season-high as well as the highest women's free skate score in the world so far this season. It lifted her from third after the short program to first overall with an international personal best total score of 226.79 points.

The reigning World and Grand Prix Final champion posted big scores of 11.53 points for her triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination and 12.98 points for her bonus-time triple Lutz-double Axel-double toe loop sequence.

She and Glenn become the first two U.S. women to finish in the top five at the Olympics since 2002, when Hughes, Michelle Kwan and Cohen placed first, third and fourth, respectively. It is also the second gold medal for Liu, who helped Team USA claim the team event earlier in the Games.

Liu, who piloted this storybook comeback on her own terms, said it's her journey that means the most to her, over titles and medals.

"It's doing stuff that people tell you you shouldn't do," she said of her life's path. "I've been doing a lot of that. But you also have to find a good team. I've been so grateful to find such great support around me. My friends really hold me down. I have a beautiful life story and I feel lucky. I'm glad that a lot of people are now watching me so that I could show them everything that I've come up with in my brain, share my stories. I want to be a storyteller of sorts. I still have the Olympic gala. Let's talk about that. I have a program that I am excited to show. It's a really cool dress, unlike any dress I have. So I'm super stoked for that."

Liu, now 20, vaulted to two U.S. titles in 2019 and 2020 as a young teenager, largely on the strength of her triple Axel and triple-triple combinations. She placed sixth at the 2022 Beijing Games and won a bronze medal at the 2022 World Figure Skating Championships before retiring to explore other interests, including traveling and studying at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"Well, I'm not really a skater; I really do feel like I'm more of an artist," she told U.S. Figure Skating in St. Louis of her time away from the sport. "So my reality is a little bit different than what maybe the general public imagines it to be or perceives it to be. So, my decisions make, actually, a lot of sense, if you think about what I like to do, and I guess my goals."

That unconventional attitude and free-wheeling approach has fueled all of the skater's performances at major competitions since her return for the 2024-25 season, including wins at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2025 and ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2025.

"I'm only here because I like it," she told NBC before taking the ice this week. "It would be a problem if I didn't have joy."

The other members of Team USA's "Blade Angels" can both leave Milan proud of their performances on the pressure-filled Olympic stage.

Glenn, who won gold alongside Liu in the team event, called her 13th-place short program on Tuesday "soul-crushing." Her free skate, set to Audiomachine's "I Will Find You' and "The Return" by Clann, was everything – dynamic, affirming and redemptive – scoring 147.52 points, a season's best. Her total score of 214.91 was also a new season's best.

"We saw some absolutely fantastic skating, some upsets, some disappointment and I have a little bit of all that," Glenn said. "I was proud of the performance I was able to put out today. Of course, there were some small mistakes, but I feel like I handled myself well. There were many, many things that I was having to struggle with to get to where I am today in that performance, but I'm happy with how I was able to conclude this Olympics."

The 2024 Grand Prix Final champion opened with a superb triple Axel, one of only two women in the event to hit the three-and-a-half revolution jump, tallying a grade of execution of 2.40. She followed with five other solid jump elements, including a triple loop-double Axel-double Axel sequence that was her highest-scoring element of the program at 13.98 points. Her first three jumping passes earned the skater 29.47 points.

Glenn also earned Level 4 credit for all three of her spins.

The ending choreographic sequence of a spiral, split jump and Ina Bauer — executed near center ice, right over the Olympic rings — was pure elation for the Colorado Springs, Colorado-based skater.
Her only flaw was putting her hands down on her final jump, a second triple loop.

Toward the end of the competition, Glenn was able to give her fellow "Blade Angels" some love and encouragement.

"What I said to Isabeau is that she looked so beautiful and that she had such determination and fight and I was proud of her.," Glenn said. "And then Alysa, I was just saying how this is going to change the future for figure skating and I hope that all three of us can really work toward that. Isabeau and Alysa are so young. They have many more years in figure skating if they choose to keep going, but I don't know how long I have left and so I'll be kind of helping on the sidelines and I'm just proud and happy of the legacy that they're leaving on this sport. Especially for Alysa, her story of taking a step back, mental health, I think can really attest to you never know what the journey to success is going to be, and I hope that what can reach the skating community is that it's OK to take time."

The Texas native has been a huge presence in U.S. figure skating since winning the U.S. junior title in 2014. Prior to her arrival in Milan, she sat for an interview with U.S. Figure Skating and contemplated her future in the sport.

"I am grateful that my body has held up for this long," Glenn, 26, said. "I will reevaluate after the season's over and see how I'm doing physically, mentally. I am not opposed to doing a one last season hoorah, just for fun and seeing 'Hey, let's see if I can do a quad, see what features I can go for.'"

What is certain: Glenn intends to remain active in the sport in some capacity, perhaps as a coach or mentor to younger athletes.

"I'm going to stay in skating for as long as they'll have me," she said. "I love this sport. I love being involved with it. I love the people. I want to continue to make it a better, safer place for young athletes."
At 26, Glenn was the oldest U.S. women's singles skater to compete in an Olympics in 98 years.

Levito, who sat eighth following the short program, was elegant and musical in her free skate to Ennio Morricone's "Cinema Paradiso," creating memorable moments with her perfect carriage and finished movements.

But the 2023 U.S. champion and 2024 World silver medalist had an uncharacteristic fall on an opening intended triple flip-triple toe loop combination. Several other jumps, including a triple flip-double Axel sequence, were solid, and the Mount Laurel, New Jersey, skater gained Level 4s for her pristine spins. Levito earned 131.96 points for the free skate and 202.80 total, leaving her in 12th place.

"I can just go on autopilot, because in training I just go, go, go on repetition," Levito said of regrouping after missing her opening jumping pass. "So again, I do my best when I'm thinking less. I tend go on autopilot and the rest just went usually how it goes."

Her Olympic experience, Levito said, was all she thought it would be and more.

"This has been like a fantasy here," Levito said. "I love being here; living in the village is like a university campus which is a cool thing. I've never been to a university as I'm just 18. Walking to the dining hall and seeing friends there, waking past the [Olympic] rings every day and then getting to do what I'm passion about — skating. … It's been a wonderful experience."

At 18, Levito sees herself improving her elements and expanding her technical repertoire over the next four-year Olympic cycle.

"There are so many things I could do," she said in a pre-Olympics interview. "I've done triple Lutz, Euler, triple flip [combination] in the past, I've done triple Lutz-triple loop in the past. I've done the flip-loop [combination] in the second half of my program. Going into this Olympic season, I was focused on combining all the things that have worked best for me in the past, so we just stuck to what we know works. And I'm really excited for the off-season and next season, where I can try new things."

For full results and to follow Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games, including the full schedule, bios, news and more, visit the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 Competition Central.