Women’s figure skating got underway Tuesday at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games, and while there had been high hopes for Team USA, early missteps and disappointing scores have placed medal hopes mostly on the skates of Alysa Liu.
Before the event got going, former world champion and Olympic gold medal winner Kristi Yamaguchi was optimistic about the chances of a medal for an American woman — one hasn’t won an individual Olympic skating medal in two decades. She also told CBS News it’s “imperative” to have a clean short program.
Liu, Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito — the trio of skaters collectively known as the “Blade Angels” — stepped onto Olympic ice for the individual short program on Tuesday.
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But unfortunately for Glenn, she couldn’t complete her triple loop — a costly mistake that dropped her into 13th place in the standings after the short program. Liu was in third place while Levito was in eighth headed into the free skate on Thursday.
“It’s imperative to have a clean short,” Yamaguchi said before the event started. “Missing one element is so detrimental, and you want to set yourself up right for a chance at a medal, at the gold.”
She also said it’s important to come back with a strong free program, even after a catastrophe in the short.
“You might not get the medal you want, but it’s just proving that, you know, you belong there and you were ready,” she said.
Medaling will be a tall order for Glenn and Levito, but it’s not completely out of the question. Glenn sits 9.2 points off of third place, while Levito is 5.75 points behind the bronze medal position. Making up that much distance would mean other competitors would need to make mistakes of their own in the free skate, but there have plenty of those in these Winter Games.
It’s been two decades since an American woman won an individual Olympic skating medal. Yamaguchi herself took home the gold at the Albertville 1992 Winter Games, with fellow American Nancy Kerrigan getting bronze.
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The two-time world champion said before the competition got underway that it felt like the American women were “due” for a win with the trio of “solid competitors who are seasoned, who have had the experience, and I feel like are ready.”
Asked what it was about women’s figure skating that captures Americans’ hearts and attention every four years, Yamaguchi suggested it’s been “seen as the glamorous side of the Olympics.”
“And the U.S. has traditionally done very well,” she noted. “We have quite a few U.S. women’s champions.”
“Obviously, the artistry is … I think a very essential part of our sport,” she added. “It’s what people fall in love with. Personalities, the style, expression.”
