Alysa Liu sits within 2 points of
the lead heading into Olympic free skate Thursday night
[February 19, 2026]
By DAVE SKRETTA
MILAN (AP) — Alysa Liu will try to end a 24-year drought for
American women in Olympic figure skating on Thursday night when the
“Blade Angel” attempts to chase down Japanese rivals Ami Nakai and
Kaori Sakamoto in the free skate at the Milan Cortina Games.
The 20-year-old Liu scored 76.59 points for an impeccable short
program on Tuesday night, leaving the freethinking native of the San
Francisco Bay area just over two points behind Nakai and less than a
point back of Sakamoto in the individual competition.
The U.S. has not had a woman stand atop an Olympic podium since
Sarah Hughes at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.
Asked whether Liu thinks she can upstage Nakai and Sakamoto, she
replied: “I don’t think about stuff like that. Whether I beat them
or not is not my goal. My goal is just to do my programs and share
my story and I don’t need to be over or under anyone to do that.”
It is exactly that kind of attitude that has allowed Liu to succeed
in a comeback from a two-year retirement.
The youngest figure skater ever to win the U.S. championship, when
she triumphed in 2019 at the age of 13, Liu seemed destined for
stardom. She could hit the big triple axels that only the best women
in the world could pull off, and her grace and skill had placed her
in the line of succession behind the likes of Michelle Kwan, Tara
Lipinski and other great American skaters.
She qualified for the Beijing Games at the age of 16, finishing
sixth — and then she quit.
What all those people neatly categorizing her as the next U.S. star
didn't realize was that she was burned out. Liu had spent most of
her childhood in rinks, her father dropping her off in the mornings
and picking her up at night. Later, she would move to Colorado to
focus on her training, and her life revolved around a dorm room,
school work and practices.
“The rink was my home for far too long,” Liu told The Associated
Press ahead of the Winter Games. “And I didn't have a choice, you
know what I'm saying? Like, I kind of had to go with it. I was away
from my family. I had to live by myself the entire time, and the
last few years I was getting really homesick. I was missing
Christmas and Thanksgiving. And I was like, ‘This is not right.’”
Liu had graduated high school at 15, so upon her sudden retirement
in 2022, she enrolled at UCLA to study psychology.
She spent time with friends on skiing trips. She hiked to the base
camp of Mount Everest. She did all the things that she had wanted to
do for so long but could not because of the grueling practice and
competition schedule of international skating.
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Alysa Liu of the United States reacts to her score after competing
in the women's short program in figure skating at the 2026 Winter
Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha
Pisarenko)
“I really despised skating because I thought that
was the reason why all that had to happen to me,” Liu said. “Through
time I realized, like, it’s not the case. It doesn’t have to be like
that. And yeah, I just don’t have to take the sport very seriously.”
Even at the Olympics.
Last year, Liu became the first American to win a world title since
Kimmie Meissner in 2006. And now, after her short program that
earned a career-best 76.59 points on Tuesday night, she can end an
Olympic drought that stretches back even longer.
Sound like pressure? Not for Liu. Not anymore.
“Competitions are my guilty pleasure, basically,” she said, “but the
training is like, where my heart is, because I can do whatever I
want. Free range, no rules, for however long I want. I can skate to
whatever songs and just do my own thing.”
That do-my-own-thing attitude is reflected in her unique style. Liu
has colored her hair in brown and brunette stripes to represent the
growth rings on a tree, and plans to add one each year to symbolize
her own growth. She has a unique frenulum piercing that glints in
the light in front of her teeth when she smiles. Even her clothing
is a reflection of her individualism.
“I love the process of creating things,” Liu said. “Skating is one
way to express myself.”
The rest of Liu's teammates struggled in the short program Tuesday
night. Amber Glenn missed a crucial triple loop that left the
three-time reigning U.S. champion in 13th place, while Isabeau
Levito made enough smaller mistakes to fall to eighth place.
That means Liu is the last of the “Blade Angels” with a chance at
Olympic glory Thursday night.
“I’m OK if I do a fail program. I’m totally OK if I do a great
program,” she said. "No matter what the outcome is, it’s still my
story.”
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