"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 raised in Richmond, 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 the 17-year-old Nakai, who raced over and hugged her."
"Glenn finished in fifth behind Mone Chiba of Japan, a stunning rebound from a disastrous short program Tuesday night. Her season-best free skate gave a score of 214.91 points, and just about landed her on the podium as well. Glenn pumped her first and fought back tears when her score was read, then she took a seat in the new leader's chair. She wound up sitting there for quite a while."
Alysa Liu won the women's Olympic figure skating gold for the United States with a near-flawless free skate and a career-best total of 226.79 points. Kaori Sakamoto took silver with 224.90 points and Ami Nakai earned bronze with 219.16 points after each made errors on a combination sequence. Amber Glenn rebounded from a poor short program to finish fifth with a season-best 214.91, briefly sitting in the leader's chair and reacting emotionally when her score was posted. Isabeau Levito fell on an opening triple flip, which kept her from claiming the top spot.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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