Milan, 20 February 2026 (dpa/MIA) - Alysa Liu made the crowd at the Milano Ice Skating Arena roar as she capped her comeback with women's figure skating gold on Thursday at the Milan/Cortina Winter Olympics.

The United States' superstar scored 150.20 points in the free skating with a feel good performance to the sound of Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park Suite."

In a golden sparkling bodysuit, the 20-year-old turned the arena into a disco party, with the crowd, including team-mate and top star Ilia Malinin, on their feet and clapping along.

"I was so calm when I started. 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," Liu said.

"I did that, and I felt everyone's energy. I felt my energy. I feel good, I feel confident and I put it all out there."

After placing third in the short programme, she scored a total of 226.79 points to beat three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan by 1.89 points.

Sakamoto couldn't hold the tears after her performance, which was her final routine before retirement. She will end her career with four Olympic medals (three silvers, one bronze), three world titles and one Grand Prix final win.

But the tears were also because she "couldn't give absolutely everything until the very end, and that’s very frustrating," she admitted.

"I really wanted to skate perfectly here. Knowing that I couldn't, and that it was the difference for the gold, was painful. I couldn’t stop the tears," Sakamoto said.

"But even feeling this disappointed and still winning silver makes me think that all the hard work I’ve put in has paid off."

Bronze also went to Japan with Ami Nakai, who had topped the short program the day before.

Nakai initially looked disappointed as it took a while for her to realize she had won a medal. Once she did, she jumped from her seat and ran to hug Liu.

The medals were awarded by International Olympic Committee (IOC) Kirsty Coventry, who's overseeing her first Games since being elected in last year.

Liu had originally retired in 2022, when she was 16, saying back then that she was so into skating that she didn't get to do much else.

But she made her comeback in the 2024-25 season, won the singles world title and the Grand Prix final last year and will leave the 2026 Games also with team gold.

Asked whether she was glad to have returned to the sport in 2024, she said: "Oh, my god. It was just right."

She's the first US medallist in the Olympics women's singles in 20 years and first winner since Sarah Hughes in 2002.

Recovery for Glenn, disappointment for Petrosian

Amber Glenn was a big medal hope for the US, but that mission got much harder after she finished the short program in 13th following a sub-par performance.

But despite not being on the podium, Glenn had a great comeback to finish fifth, 4.25 points from bronze.

Another figure skater hoping to medal was Russian Adeliia Petrosian, whose presence has caused controversy at the Games.

Despite the complexity of some of her elements, she took a fall early in her routine and also failed to complete a quad axel, finishing sixth.

Petrosian was invited to compete under a neutral flag only after being judged not to have supported Russia's war on Ukraine nor to have any links with Russia's military or security services.

On top of that, Petrosian also has links with Eteri Tutberidze, the former coach of Russian skater Kamila Valieva, who was disqualified after failing a drugs test before the Beijing 2022 Winter Games.

Petrosian trains at Sambo 70 in Moscow, the club that nurtured Valieva and which is run by Tutberidze, who was at the Games as the coach for the Georgia team.

The women's competition was the last figure skating event at the Games. An exhibition gala is scheduled for Saturday with artistic performances from the stars of the Games.

Photo: EPA