MILAN — Then there is one.
With three strong contenders for the podium in the women’s Olympic figure skating competition, the United States’ hopes now rest almost completely on Alysa Liu, who finished in third place in the short program on Tuesday.
The reigning world champion could end the United States’ 20-year Olympic medal drought in the women’s singles competition. The last U.S. woman to stand on an Olympic podium was Sasha Cohen in 2006.
The United States was primed to end the drought with Liu, Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito, but only Liu is in the top six after the short program. Levito skated cleanly but enters Thursday’s free skate in seventh. Glenn’s program started almost flawlessly with a steady triple axel, but she popped her last jumping pass and earned zero points on it. After her program, she clutched the necklaces on her burgundy lace dress and knelt at center ice. She broke down in tears when she hugged her coach.
Glenn’s 67.39 points put her safely into Thursday’s free skate but at 13th place, she is well outside the medal race. She sat in the kiss-and-cry area for several extra seconds with her head bowed after her score was announced to process her performance.
Glenn’s raw emotion and her triple axel are her calling cards while trying to stand out in the wide open women’s field. Japan’s 17-year-old Ami Nakai was the only other competitor to attempt a triple axel Tuesday and she soared to first place in the short program with 78.71 points. Fellow Japanese star Kaori Sakamoto scored 77.23 points for second place. As she left the ice, fans held up orange towels with Sakamoto’s name. She paused to soak in the sight.
Liu received some of the loudest applause of the night. Before beginning her program, she skated by the boards and high fived both of her coaches, who hugged and hopped for joy when Liu executed her tricky triple lutz-triple loop combination jump. After hitting her ending pose, Liu covered her face to hide the tears that often well up in her eyes after her program set to “Promise.”
Levito, skating in her mother’s hometown of Milan where her grandmother still lives, calmly aced her Olympic debut with a score of 70.84 that put her in eighth place. Her program pays homage to Sophia Loren, the iconic Italian actress. Levito was the last U.S. skater to take Olympic ice after not participating in the team program. But the two-week wait didn’t phase the 18-year-old New Jersey native known for her classic, balletic style. After her program, she softly pumped her fist as if it was just another successful work day.
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