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

Alysa Liu became the first American woman to win an individual Olympic figure skating gold medal in nearly a quarter of a century when she held off Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai on Thursday night.

Alysa Liu carries U.S. gold hopes as women’s figure skating heads into its final night 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.

Alysa Liu is left to bear the ambitions of the American figure skating team on Thursday night, when the last of the “Blade Angels” with a legitimate shot at the Olympic gold medal tries to catch Japanese teammates Ami Nakai and Kaori Sakamoto during the women’s free skate at the Milan Cortina Games.

Ami Nakai and Japanese teammate Kaori Sakamoto upstaged Alysa Liu and the rest of the “Blade Angels” from the U.S. to take the lead after the short program in the women’s figure skating competition at

Japan's Ami Nakai grabbed a surprise lead after the short programme at the Olympic women's figure skating competition in Milan on Tuesday, edging a field that produced a string of high-quality performances.

World champion Alysa Liu says she skated "on another level" after the American put herself in contention for Olympic figure skating singles gold against the powerful Japanese women at the