Alysa Liu wins women's gold as Ilia Malinin falters at Milan Olympics

Alysa Liu won the women's Olympic figure skating gold in Milan after a comeback, while U.S. teammate Ilia Malinin had a difficult free skate and finished eighth.

Alysa Liu completed a comeback to win the women's Olympic figure skating gold in Milan after stepping away from the sport in 2022. She sealed the title with a free skate that included seven clean triple jumps. The competition was packed with surprises, including a high-profile stumble by U.S. skater Ilia Malinin and notable results across men's, pairs and ice dance. Key results: - Alysa Liu completed a comeback and won women's gold with a free skate featuring seven clean triple jumps. - Ilia Malinin, who led into the free skate, failed to land his planned quadruple Axel, had two falls and dropped to eighth place. - Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan won the men's title. - Kaori Sakamoto took silver in the women's event, Ami Nakai won bronze and Mone Chiba finished fourth. - Ice dance gold went to French pairing Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, ahead of Madison Chock and Evan Bates. - In pairs, Japan's Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara came from behind to win the country's first Olympic gold in that discipline. Summary: The competition reshaped expectations across multiple events, producing both celebration and disappointment for different athletes. The article reports Malinin spoke of mental fatigue, received encouragement from Simone Biles, and later delivered an emotional closing-gala performance. The report also notes the next Winter Games in France are scheduled in four years' time.