Alysa Liu sits within 2 points of the lead heading into Olympic free skate Thursday night

The U.S. has not had a woman stand atop an Olympic podium since Sarah Hughes at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

Asked whether Liu thinks she can upstage Nakai and Sakamoto, she replied: “I don’t think about stuff like that. Whether I beat them or not is not my goal. My goal is just to do my programs and share my story and I don’t need to be over or under anyone to do that.”

It is exactly that kind of attitude that has allowed Liu to succeed in a comeback from a two-year retirement.

The youngest figure skater ever to win the U.S. championship, when she triumphed in 2019 at the age of 13, Liu seemed destined for stardom. She could hit the big triple axels that only the best women in the world could pull off, and her grace and skill had placed her in the line of succession behind the likes of Michelle Kwan, Tara Lipinski and other great American skaters.

She qualified for the Beijing Games at the age of 16, finishing sixth — and then she quit.

What all those people neatly categorizing her as the next U.S. star didn't realize was that she was burned out. Liu had spent most of her childhood in rinks, her father dropping her off in the mornings and picking her up at night. Later, she would move to Colorado to focus on her training, and her life revolved around a dorm room, school work and practices.

“The rink was my home for far too long,” Liu told The Associated Press ahead of the Winter Games. “And I didn't have a choice, you know what I'm saying? Like, I kind of had to go with it. I was away from my family. I had to live by myself the entire time, and the last few years I was getting really homesick. I was missing Christmas and Thanksgiving. And I was like, ‘This is not right.’”

Liu had graduated high school at 15, so upon her sudden retirement in 2022, she enrolled at UCLA to study psychology.

She spent time with friends on skiing trips. She hiked to the base camp of Mount Everest. She did all the things that she had wanted to do for so long but could not because of the grueling practice and competition schedule of international skating.

“I really despised skating because I thought that was the reason why all that had to happen to me,” Liu said. “Through time I realized, like, it’s not the case. It doesn’t have to be like that. And yeah, I just don’t have to take the sport very seriously.”

Even at the Olympics.

Last year, Liu became the first American to win a world title since Kimmie Meissner in 2006. And now, after her short program that earned a career-best 76.59 points on Tuesday night, she can end an Olympic drought that stretches back even longer.

Sound like pressure? Not for Liu. Not anymore.

“Competitions are my guilty pleasure, basically,” she said, “but the training is like, where my heart is, because I can do whatever I want. Free range, no rules, for however long I want. I can skate to whatever songs and just do my own thing.”

That do-my-own-thing attitude is reflected in her unique style. Liu has colored her hair in brown and brunette stripes to represent the growth rings on a tree, and plans to add one each year to symbolize her own growth. She has a unique frenulum piercing that glints in the light in front of her teeth when she smiles. Even her clothing is a reflection of her individualism.

“I love the process of creating things,” Liu said. “Skating is one way to express myself.”

The rest of Liu's teammates struggled in the short program Tuesday night. Amber Glenn missed a crucial triple loop that left the three-time reigning U.S. champion in 13th place, while Isabeau Levito made enough smaller mistakes to fall to eighth place.

That means Liu is the last of the “Blade Angels” with a chance at Olympic glory Thursday night.

“I’m OK if I do a fail program. I’m totally OK if I do a great program,” she said. "No matter what the outcome is, it’s still my story.”

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics