2026 Olympics | Figure Skating | Women’s Free Skate

USA’s Alysa Liu captured Olympic gold in Women’s Figure Skating in what turned out to be an exciting event in Milan, Italy. Kaori Sakamoto of Japan maintained second place to win the silver—her second Olympic medal, while teammate Ami Nakai earned the bronze.

Alysa Liu

USA’s Alysa Liu electrified the arena with her crowd-pleasing free skate to “MacArthur Park Suite.” Both triple flip jumps received an edge call, but the 2025 World champion landed a solid triple Lutz-triple toe and showed two level-four spins and footwork while picking up positive grades of execution throughout. She placed first in the free skate with a new season’s best of 150.20, and with a personal best total score of 226.79, rose from third to capture the title.

“I was feeling calm, happy, and confident,” said the 20-year-old. “I’ve been having fun the whole time. This experience is really cool. I got to see my siblings and my friends the past two nights. We even had a late-night dinner together. It was super fun. I’m just so happy that I could bring Oakland to Milan.”

Liu, who was sixth at the 2022 Olympics, said she feels fore “gracious” this time around as she has things she wants to share and feels a reason to be here.

“I guess it’s about doing things people tell you that you shouldn’t do,” she said. “I’ve been doing that a lot. But it’s also about finding a really good team. I’m so grateful. I have such a great support system around me, friends who really hold me down. No matter what happens in life, I think I have a very beautiful life story, and I feel really lucky. I’m glad that now there are a lot of people watching me, so I can show them everything I’ve come up with in my head and share my stories. I want to be a storyteller.”

Kaori Sakamoto

Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto racked up oodles of positive GOES in nearly all elements of her classy free skate to music by Édith Piaf. She missed her triple-triple combination jump, only landing the flip, but everything else was solid. All spins and footwork were graded a level four, and the 2022 Olympic bronze medalist earned the highest program component score in this segment. She placed second in the free skate and maintained second place overall (147.67/224.90), winning her second Olympic medal.

“I thought that if I had landed the toe loop, I would’ve had those points,” said the 25-year-old. “But there’s no use talking about it once it’s over, and I can’t take back what I’ve done. So I just reset my mindset to focus on cheering for Ami. I’ve always been able to deliver at moments like Nationals or the World Championship, when it really counts. So honestly, I keep wondering why I couldn’t do it here. That feeling is really strong. I’m quite frustrated.”

“Four years ago in Beijing, I won what felt like a miraculous bronze medal,” she added. “Now, four years later, I came here aiming for gold. I’m frustrated that I couldn’t win it and ended up with silver. But the fact that I can feel frustrated even though I moved up a medal color shows how much I’ve grown over these past four years. All the experiences I’ve accumulated have led to this growth, and I think that’s something I can be proud of.”

Ami Nakai

Japan’s Ami Nakai exuded joy throughout her free skate to “What a Wonderful World,” which showcased quality spins and footwork. However, she put a foot down on the back end of a triple Lutz-double toe and slightly underrotated a triple flip and triple loop. In addition to the small mistakes, she did not produce a triple-triple combination, which resulted in a ninth-place finish (140.45). Nevertheless, the with a total score of 219.16, the 2026 Four Continents silver medalist was able to grab the third spot on the podium in her debut at this event.

The 17-year-old said she felt less nervous than previous competitions.

“I feel very happy that I was able to land the Axel, but there were also parts where I made mistakes on jumps,” Nakai pointed out. “So, I honestly felt frustrated and wondered what was going to happen. When the scores came out, I couldn’t tell where my ranking was. I was searching for it. I thought I didn’t make it. When I looked next to my name, it had ‘3 ‘next to it. That’s when I finally realized it meant a bronze medal. I was really surprised, and honestly, I even wondered if it was real.”

“I honestly didn’t even think I would be able to compete at the Olympics,” added the skater. “The fact that I’m now standing here, wearing a medal, makes me incredibly happy. It makes me feel that all the injuries and everything I went through along the way were not in vain.”

Mone Chiba

Mone Chiba of Japan skated with elegant lightness in her routine to selections from Romeo and Juliet, picking up high GOEs for her level-four spins and footwork. However, she put a foot down on the back on end of a triple Lutz-double toe-double loop sequence, receiving a quarter call on the first and last jump. She also slightly underrotated the back end of her opening triple flip-triple toe. The 20-year-old placed fourth in this segment and maintained fourth place overall with a new personal best total score of 217.88. She was just1.28 points from the podium.

“Even though I gave absolutely everything I had, it still wasn’t enough,” said the 2025 World bronze medalist. “I don’t really know how to put it into words, but it’s a very complicated kind of frustration, something I felt for the first time.”

Nevertheless, the skater from Kyoto was happy and grateful to be at the Olympics, calling it a “beautiful experience.”

“I think it’s something that will stay with me and truly carry me forward into my future competitions,” she said.

Amber Glenn

USA’s Amber Glenn delivered a redemptive free skate with a new season’s best of 147.52 points. She opened her expressive routine to “I Will Find You” and “The Return” with a solid triple Axel which received mostly +3 GOES. The only mistake made by the 26-year-old came when she put a hand down on her final jump—a triple loop. All other triple jumps were solid, including a triple flip-triple toe, and she picked up a level four on all three spins. With a total score of 214.91, the skater soared from 13th to fifth place overall.

“Of course, today there were small mistakes, but I feel like I handled myself really well,” said the three-time national champion. “There were many, many things I had to struggle with to get to where I am today in that performance. But I’m really happy with how I was able to skate. I told myself, no matter what, you’re going to look up and say, ‘I’m at the Olympics.’ And I’m really proud that I was able to do that.”

Glenn pointed out that Liu and Levito are so young and have a bright future ahead of them.

“They have many more years in figure skating if they choose to keep going,” she said. “I don’t know how long I have left, so I might be helping more from the sidelines. But I’m just really proud and happy about the legacy they’re leaving on the sport. Especially Alysa, with her story of stepping back for her mental health. I think that really shows you never know what the journey to success is going to look like. I hope that message reaches the skating community—that it’s okay if it takes time.”

When asked if there might be another Olympics in the future, Glenn said: “Well, I’ll be 30. I’m lucky my body is holding itself together right now. Honestly, it barely is.”

Adeliia Petrosian

Adeliia Petrosian (AIN) took a fall on an attempted quad toe in her routine to “Nocturne No. 1 in D Minor” and “Yo Soy Maria.” Other than an edge call on both triple Lutz jumps, the 18-year-old from Moscow was clean. She produced a good triple flip-triple toe and displayed quality level-four spins and footwork throughout, earning two new personal best scores for fifth place in the free skate and sixth overall (141.64/214.53).

“I think it will be mentally difficult for me to come back to Russia after such a skate,” said Petrosian. “I feel a little ashamed; for myself, for the federation, for my coaches, and for the spectators that it went this way. I understand that it’s my own fault. That’s why I think it will be a bit difficult.”

“I heard how the spectators supported me—there were Russian-speaking fans, I heard everything,” she added. “That was very nice, because these people came from different parts of the world to support me. A big thank you to them!”

Rounding out the field

Niina Petrokina of Estonia placed sixth in the free skate, moving up to seventh place overall (141.19/210.82). The 21-year-old had a good skate to music from Dune, landing seven triple jumps, but there was no triple-triple combination in her repertoire. However, she earned a level four on all three spins and the footwork.

“I’m really happy because I did all my jumps, all my elements, and I gave it my all,” said the two-time and current European champion. “I showed all my emotions and everything I had. I am proud of it.”

South Korean’s Haein Lee of South Korea received an edge call on both triple Lutz jumps and landed a triple flip on the quarter, but was otherwise solid. The 2023 World silver medalist finished eighth overall with a season’s best in all segments at this event (140.49/210.56).

“I was so nervous today, even more than the short program,” admitted the 20-year-old. “Right before my performance, my coach told me, ‘We’ll worry for you, so you don’t have to worry yourself. You just have to enjoy your performance.’ That made me feel comfortable, and it gave me a lot more energy. I enjoyed this performance more than the short program.”

Georgia’s Anastasiia Gubanova also picked up a new season’s best for the free skate, but slipped from sixth to ninth place overall (138.22/209.99). Other than a step out on a triple Lutz, the three-time European medalist was solid.

“I feel so much happiness and I’m very glad that I succeeded and showed two good performances,” the 23-year-old said. “Both nights I was very focused on my programs. And at the end, when I finished, I was thinking about how I managed to do all of this and to perform so well. I’m really proud of myself.”

“As for my plans for the future, right now I want to focus on my studies,” she said. “I’m studying at a sports university to become a coach. Then I will compete at the World Championships. What comes after that, I can’t say yet.”

Kazakhstan’s Sofia Samodelkina placed 10th overall with a new personal best score of 207.46 in her debut at this event. The three-time Challenger Series medalist landed a total of seven clean triple jumps, including a triple flip-triple toe.

“My performance was great!” said the 19-year-old. “I felt really good, free, emotional and easy to skate. I am a little tired now and I have to think everything through, how it was. I really liked how I focused and I liked my mental approach. I will try to improve that further so that competitions just feel like to go out and show yourself and be beautiful.

Jia Shin of South Korea placed 11th overall (206.68), followed by USA’s Isabeau Levito (202.80), Nina Pinzarrone of Belgium (200.30), and Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx .

Related info:

• Official Results
• Olympic Qualification System for Figure Skating
• Competition Threads
• Replay Lounge
• More Olympic Figure Skating news

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