Alysa Liu showed amazing sportsmanship on Thursday night in Milan at the Winter Olympic Games, hugging bronze medalist Ami Nakai as the first thing she did after winning the gold medal.
It was a special moment for the 20-year-old American, who comforted the 17-year-old from Japan after she fell from first to third after her free skate routine.
Nakai, who was stunned at first, wasn’t upset that she got bronze. In fact, she was delighted. The young Japanese star thought she had fallen off the podium after her performance, so Liu’s insistence that she had won a medal cheered the teenager up.
Liu won her second gold medal of the Olympics and became the first American woman to win individual figure skating gold in 24 years since Sarah Hughes.
And although Liu was praised for her immediate reaction, an old video resurfaced on Friday showing that the new gold medalist has that reaction regardless of whether she wins or loses.
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Six weeks ago, at the United States Championships, Liu did not finish as the American champion.
It was her teammate and close friend, Amber Glenn, who won the spotlight on the night, capturing her third-straight national title.
While most competitors would have been in the tunnels of the arena or watching backstage, Liu was rinkside for Glenn’s big moment. In the resurfaced video, she is clapping and cheering for Glenn as she’s crowned in the middle of the ice.
Liu, following her magical night in Milan, has continued to spread positivity in her post-victory interviews, celebrating how well the other women performed yesterday and encouraging her to do her best.
Those same women, sans possibly retiring silver medalist Kaori Sakamoto and Russia’s Adeliia Petrosian, will compete next month at the World Championships in Prague.
