Alysa Liu won Olympic gold on Thursday -- an unexpected fairy-tale ending to an up-and-down week for the U.S. figure skating team.

Alysa Liu's dynamic performance in Thursday's free skate earned her a gold medal, the first for the United States in the women's individual event since Sarah Hughes in 2002. And she did it on her terms.

United States figure skater Alysa Liu made it 2-for-2 on Thursday after an incredible performance in the free skate of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. Liu had already bagged her first Olympic gold medal in the team event earlier in the Games.

After an amazing free skate, Alysa Liu celebrated her figure skating performance with six explosive words at the Winter Olympics.

Team USA wasn’t expected to get many medals Thursday. But the events it was in contention for were important ones. The U.S. came into Thursday still third in overall medals, still trailing Norway and Italy.

Hilary Knight made Team USA Olympic history with her clutch goal that tied the gold medal game against Canada, becoming the greatest women's hockey scorer ever.

MILAN (AP) — Jordan Stolz was rather surprised that his Olympic gold medal streak ended Thursday. So was his coach. And so, too, was Ning Zhongyan of China, the man who beat Stolz in speedskating's 1,

The gold medal will be awarded in women's hockey Thursday as the United States squares off with Canada in one of the most hotly anticipated competitions of these 2026 Winter Olympics.