Team USA Secures Olympic Gold in Hockey and Skating
The U.S. women's hockey team won the Olympic gold medal, defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime with a last-minute goal. In figure skating, Alyssa Liu also won gold, becoming the first American woman to do so since 2002.
- The gold medal game was held at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. - U.S. captain Hilary Knight tied the game with just 2:03 left in regulation, setting the stage for overtime. Megan Keller then scored the game-winning goal a little over four minutes into the overtime period. - This was the eighth time the U.S. and Canada have met in the women's hockey Olympic final, and it snapped an eight-game losing streak for the U.S. against Canada in international play. - Earlier in the tournament, the U.S. team defeated Canada 5-0 in a preliminary round match. - Alyssa Liu’s victory ended a 24-year gold medal drought for American women in Olympic singles figure skating, with Sarah Hughes being the last to win in 2002. The last American woman to win any medal in the event was Sasha Cohen, who took silver in 2006. - The 20-year-old Liu had previously retired from the sport at age 16 after the 2022 Beijing Olympics, citing burnout, before launching a successful comeback. - Liu was in third place after the short program but delivered a career-best, near-flawless free skate to move past Japan's Kaori Sakamoto (silver) and Ami Nakai (bronze) for the win. - This was Liu's second gold medal of the games; she also helped the U.S. win the team figure skating event earlier in the Olympics.
