Liu wins rare Olympic women's figure skating gold for U.S. - ESPN

MILAN — Alysa Liu delivered the U.S. its first women's figure skating Olympic gold medal in 24 years, performing a near-flawless free skate Thursday night in a glittering golden dress to upstage Japanese rivals Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai at the Milan Cortina Games.

The 20-year-old from the San Francisco Bay Area, who had walked away from the sport after the Beijing Games four years ago only to launch a remarkable comeback, finished with a career-best 226.79 points. Nakai and Sakamoto, skating right behind her, each made a mistake on a combination sequence, and that made the difference in the medals.

Sakamoto had 224.90 points to earn a silver to go with her bronze from Beijing. Nakai finished third with 219.16 points.

The moment Nakai's score was read after the final program of the night, teammate Amber Glenn jumped onto the kiss-and-cry stand and raised Liu's hand in triumph. Liu sheepishly turned and applauded 17-year-old Nakai, who raced over and hugged her.

It was the first individual gold medal for an American woman since 2002, when Sarah Hughes stood atop the podium in Salt Lake City, and it was the second gold for Liu at the Milan Cortina Games. She helped the Americans win team gold.

The medal blended right into her gold-sequined dress, only its blue ribbon standing out. And it seemed to be the perfect complement to the golden stripes through her dark brown hair, which are meant to resemble the growth rings on a tree.

Liu has done a whole lot of growing up over the years.

She was the youngest U.S. champion ever when she won the first of back-to-back titles at 13 years old. But after finishing sixth at the Beijing Games, Liu was so burned out that she abruptly retired. She spent the next two years doing