Alysa Liu's Golden Free Skate: Women’s Singles at Milan‑Cortina 2026

Alysa Liu clinched the Olympic women’s singles title at the Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 19, 2026, delivering a commanding free skate that lifted her to a total of 226.79 points, narrowly ahead of Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto, 224.90, and Ami Nakai, 219.16. Liu’s free program, to Donna Summer’s "MacArthur Park Suite," was notable for clean, high‑speed jumping, confident transitions and uniformly positive grades of execution, a performance that sealed the United States’ first women’s Olympic gold in the discipline since Sarah Hughes in 2002.

The night at a glance

The free skate doubled as the decisive moment of the women’s competition, the long program on Thursday, February 19, determining the podium after a tight short program two nights earlier. The top three after the short — Ami Nakai, Kaori Sakamoto and Alysa Liu — all skated in the final group, and the evening played out as a tense, technical duel, with Liu’s consistency outweighing the higher‑risk attempts by a few rivals.

Final top 6 (overall)

(Full results list was published by multiple outlets at the close of competition.)

What Liu did, and why it mattered

Liu skated with speed and polish, landing the seven triple jumps that anchored her program, and collecting 150.20 for the free skate segment, to complement her short program score of 76.59. Judges rewarded clean execution across elements, and Liu’s performance earned high program component scores for energy and interpretation. The win capped a comeback arc that included the 2025 world title, and a team‑event gold earlier in these Games, giving her a rare sweep of major titles in a single season.

"What the hell," Liu said, in the moment after the result, a short, stunned exclamation that captured the disbelief of a comeback story turned Olympic triumph.

For U.S. figure skating, the result ended a long drought at the top of the Olympic podium, and it validated a season of rebuilding and mental‑health focused choices for a skater who briefly walked away from the sport after Beijing 2022.

Close calls and costly errors

Kaori Sakamoto, a three‑time world champion and a consistent force on the world stage, skated a powerful free program but was off balance on an opening element in her combination, which cost crucial points. Her overall score, 224.90, left her agonizingly short of gold, though the routine reinforced Sakamoto’s status as a stalwart of the era.

Ami Nakai, the 17‑year‑old who led after the short program with a clean triple Axel, aimed to combine difficulty and freshness in her long program. She opened aggressively, again attempting the triple Axel among other high‑value elements, but a few late errors in the second half of the skate dropped her from contention for the top spot and left her with bronze at 219.16. Nakai’s Olympic debut nonetheless underlined a generational shift, with the teenager already capable of game‑changing technical content.

Adeliia Petrosian, competing as a neutral athlete, attempted higher‑risk jumps, including planned quadruple elements that did not come off cleanly. She still placed inside the top six, a reminder that big scoring plays can vault skaters up the standings, but they also carry a high chance of costly deductions.

Technical trends and judging notes

The judge panels and technical specialists continued to reward clean execution, particularly combinations and second‑half bonuses for elements performed after the program midpoint. Across the event, strategy split in two directions,

• Package A, a conservative approach, focused on clean triples executed with positive GOE and high program component marks, and
• Package B, a high‑risk strategy, emphasized quadruple jumps and triple Axels to chase higher base values.

Liu’s victory illustrated the reward for Package A on this night, where consistency, flow and clean landings outweighed occasional attempts at higher base values that ended in under‑rotations or falls.

```text
Scoring basics, women’s singles final
Total Score = Short Program Score + Free Skate Score
Example, Alysa Liu:
Short Program = 76.59
Free Skate = 150.20
Total = 226.79
```

Judges applied Grade of Execution adjustments element by element, and Program Component Scores reflected skating skills, transitions, performance, composition and interpretation. The free skate also continued to reward step sequences and spins with levels and GOE, which proved decisive when jump scores among the top skaters were very close.

Reactions, national impact and narratives

Across the arena and around the skating world, reactions were immediate and varied. In the U.S., the win was framed as a return to prominence for women’s singles, and teammates praised Liu’s joy and maturity on the ice. Japanese media and fans focused on Sakamoto’s consistency and Nakai’s emergence, seeing the result as confirmation of Japan’s depth. Some analysts highlighted the broader debate in the sport about risk versus reliability, and whether quads and triple Axels will soon become the standard winning content rather than optional differentiators.

Coaches and competitors offered measured praise. Liu’s coaching team emphasized process, mental health and timing, and Liu herself pointed to rediscovered joy as a driver of the late comeback.

Multiple viewpoints

• Supporters of technical ambition pointed to the competition as evidence that quads and triple Axels remain the pathway to higher ceilings in scoring, and that young skaters like Nakai will push the envelope in coming seasons.
• Proponents of the consistency argument noted Liu’s clean program was a model of modern free skating, where positive GOE across many medium‑ and high‑value elements can beat an unsteady program that attempts a quad but fails to land it.
• Neutral observers flagged judging nuance, noting that program components now matter more than ever, and that strong choreography and speed can offset a slight deficit in base value.

What this means going forward

Alysa Liu’s gold on February 19, 2026, will be a reference point for the next Olympic cycle. For the U.S. it restores belief in producing top international women, for Japan it signals depth and a pipeline of technically capable skaters, and for the sport it highlights an ongoing tension between taking technical risks and delivering clean, well‑constructed programs.

The athletes now shift from the Olympic spotlight toward the remainder of the post‑Games season, endorsements and, for some, career decisions. For Liu, the victory is a crowning athletic moment after a comeback that included a 2025 world title, a team gold at Milan‑Cortina, and now an individual Olympic gold.

Quick takeaways

• Alysa Liu, USA, Olympic champion, 226.79 total, free skate 150.20, historic U.S. gold in women’s singles on February 19, 2026.
• Kaori Sakamoto, JPN, silver, 224.90, powerful but edged out by Liu’s clean execution.
• Ami Nakai, JPN, bronze, 219.16, a breakout Olympic debut with a triple Axel and enormous upside.

For readers watching the trajectory of women’s figure skating, Milan‑Cortina 2026 delivered drama, a changing of the guard moments, and a reminder that at the Olympic level, consistency under pressure often decides history.

(Reporting and synthesis based on event coverage and official results published by major outlets at the close of competition on February 19, 2026.)