Alysa Liu breaks Team USA's 24-year Olympic gold medal drought in women's figure skating

A judging controversy erupts at the Winter Olympics after a French judge was accused of giving a boosted score to the home country in the ice dance final, potentially costing Team USA gold.

Team USA women's figure skater Alysa Liu won gold in the women's free skate final on Thursday, ending a 20-year drought for American women to medal in the event, and a 24-year drought to win gold. 

The last American woman to win a singles figure skating medal at the Olympics was Sasha Cohen in the 2006 Turin Games, and the last American woman to win a gold medal in singles figure skating was Sarah Hughes, who pulled off that accomplishment in 2002 when the Winter Games were held in Salt Lake City.

She landed all her jumps and smiled throughout, and exploded into a demonstrative celebration after she finished. She was even heard yelling, "that's what I'm f---ing talking about!' and "holy s---!" while celebrating with her team. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Alysa Liu of the United States competes during the women's figure skating free program at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026.  (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Liu finished with 226.79 total score, 150.20 free skate score, 76.59 short program score. It was her season-best in free skate score.

But she still had to watch Japanese rivals Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai go after her. 

Sakamoto was only good enough to come up just behind Liu. Nakai appeared to come much closer, as there was a noticeable tension in the crowd as judges reviewed Nakai's moves before delivering her final score. But once they announced that Nakai had come up short, the crowd exploded in celebration for Liu. 

Liu was the only American woman who qualified for