MILAN (AP) — Alysa Liu will try to end a 24-year drought for American women in Olympic figure skating on Thursday night when the “Blade Angel” attempts to chase down Japanese rivals Ami Nakai and Kaori Sakamoto in the free skate at the Milan Cortina Games.
The 20-year-old Liu scored 76.59 points for an impeccable short program on Tuesday night, leaving the freethinking native of the San Francisco Bay area just over two points behind Nakai and less than a point back of Sakamoto in the individual competition.
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Kaori Sakamoto of Japan competes during the women's short program figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Ami Nakai of Japan competes during the women's short program figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Alysa Liu of the United States reacts to her score after competing in the women's short program in figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Alysa Liu of the United States competes during the women's short program figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Alysa Liu of the United States competes during the women's short program figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
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
Kaori Sakamoto of Japan competes during the women's short program figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Ami Nakai of Japan competes during the women's short program figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Alysa Liu of the United States reacts to her score after competing in the women's short program in figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Alysa Liu of the United States competes during the women's short program figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Alysa Liu of the United States competes during the women's short program figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
HELSINGBORG, Sweden (AP) — NATO allies and defense officials expressed bewilderment Friday at U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would send 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland just weeks after ordering the same number of forces pulled out of Europe.
The apparent change of mind came after weeks of statements from Trump and his administration about reducing — not increasing — the U.S. military footprint in Europe. Trump's initial order set off a flurry of action among military commanders and left allies already doubtful about America's commitment to Europe's security to ponder what forces they might have to backfill on NATO's eastern flank with Russia and Ukraine.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration said it was reducing levels in Europe by about 5,000 troops, and U.S. officials confirmed about 4,000 service members were no longer rotating into Poland from Germany. The dispatch to Germany of U.S. personnel trained to fire long-range missiles was also halted.
But in a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump said he would now send "an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland,” citing his strong ties with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom Trump endorsed in elections last year.
“It is confusing indeed, and not always easy to navigate,” Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told reporters Friday at a meeting she was hosting of her NATO counterparts, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Ministers from the Netherlands and Norway were sanguine about Trump’s latest move, as was Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže, who said allies knew the U.S. troop “posture was being reconsidered, and now there is no change of posture. For now.”
U.S. defense officials also expressed confusion. “We just spent the better part of two weeks reacting to the first announcement. We don’t know what this means either,” said one of two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.
But Rubio said Washington’s allies understand that changes in the U.S. troop presence in Europe will come as the Trump administration reevaluates its force needs. “I think there’s a broad recognition that there are going to be eventually less U.S. troops in Europe than there has historically been for a variety of reasons,” he said.
The latest surprise came despite a U.S. pledge to coordinate troop deployments, including one from NATO’s top military officer, U.S. Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, on Wednesday.
Trump's initial announcement that he would withdraw troops came as he fumed over remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said that the U.S. was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized what he called a lack of strategy in that war.
Trump told reporters that the U.S. would be cutting even more than 5,000 and also announced new tariffs on European cars. Germany is the continent’s biggest auto producer.
Rubio insisted that Trump’s decision “is not a punitive thing. It’s just something that’s ongoing.”
About 80,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Europe. The Pentagon is required to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment on the continent unless NATO allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in U.S. interests.
The withdrawal of 5,000 troops might drop numbers below that limit.
But Trump's latest post suggests that troop numbers in Europe would not change. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski welcomed the decision to send more forces to his country, saying it ensures that “the presence of American troops in Poland will be maintained more or less at previous levels.”
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also welcomed the move. On Thursday, before Trump took to Truth Social again, Rutte had underlined that it was important for Europe to take care of its own security. “We have a process in place. This is normal business,” he told reporters.
At NATO headquarters in Brussels, meanwhile, U.S. officials briefed the allies on the Pentagon's aims for its commitments to the NATO Force Model, which involves contingency planning for Europe’s defense in the event of serious security concerns. It was widely expected that a further reduction of U.S. forces would be coming.
Asked whether any cuts were announced, Rutte said: “I’m afraid it’s much more complicated than that.” He said the procedure “is highly classified” and declined to give details.
Rubio played down concerns about a shift in U.S. force levels in Europe, saying: "Every country has to constantly reevaluate what their needs are, what their commitments are around the world, and how to properly structure that.”
Cook reported from Brussels. Associated Press writer Emma Burrows in London contributed.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks with journalists during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, front second left, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, front left, speak with each other during a group photo at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte look at each other as they deliver a statement during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže speaks at the doorstep of the NATO foreign ministers' meeting at Sea U in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte deliver a statement during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks to media at the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives with his wife Jeanette at Malmo Airport, Friday, May 22, 2026, in Malmo-Sturup, Sweden, ahead of a NATO foreign ministers meeting. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, second from left, shakes hands with Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson, as he is greeted by King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, Queen Silvia of Sweden and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Maria Malmer Stenergard, right, before a dinner at Sofiero Castle in Helsingborg, Sweden, Thursday May 21 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard speaks to media at the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
