Alysa Liu Caps Incredible Comeback With Two Olympic Golds!
Language
Reading Level
Listen to Article
Alignment
On February 19, 2026, American figure skater Alysa Liu delivered a flawless routine to win the women’s individual title at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. Her victory ended a 24-year gold medal drought in the event for the United States (US). The last American woman to win was Sarah Hughes in 2002.
Liu entered the free skate in third place after the short program. Her performance to Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park” was superb, combining technical mastery with expressive artistry. It brought her total score to 226.79, just ahead of Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto, who scored 224.90 and took home silver. On February 16, Liu also helped the US capture its first-ever Olympic gold in the team figure skating event.
The 20-year-old first rose to fame in 2019 when she became the youngest US national champion at age 13. She repeated the feat in 2020 and made history as the first American woman to land a quadruple jump in competition. This is one of the sport’s most difficult moves. Two years later, she represented Team USA at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, finishing sixth. Later that year, Liu earned a bronze medal at the World Championships.
But shortly after the event, Liu decided to step away from competition. Skating, she said, had lost the joy it once brought her and felt more like work. She shifted her focus to college and spent time exploring her interests in fashion and photography.
A family ski trip in 2024 reminded Liu of her love for the ice. She announced her comeback soon after. But this time, she chose routines that showcased her own style. She also paced her training carefully to protect her well-being. Her strategy has paid off. On March 28, 2025, Liu became the first American woman in 19 years to win the figure skating World Championships. Now, she has claimed two Olympic golds, cementing her place among the sport’s greats.
"I just wanted to skate because I love it. Winning is incredible, but finding my joy again was the most important thing," Liu said after her Olympics win.
Resources: People.com, NPR.com, NBCarea.com, Wikipedia.org
Get the Workbook for this article!
Workbook contains: Article, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking Questions, Vocabulary in Context (+ answers), Multiple Choice Quiz (+ answers), Parts of Speech Quiz (+ answers), Vocabulary Game (+ answers)Cite Article
Learn Keywords in this Article
24 Comments
arwen_the_elf4 daysim 13 and just trying to keep up with my classes :[. she's really talented though<3
i_love_taytay4 dayscool shes good
ilovehenrydsaf4 daysNow THATS talent. I'm genuinely impressed by how far she's come, I'm so proud of her :) You go, Alysa!!
