Sports
Alysa Liu caps comeback with gold, ends US women’s figure skating drought
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Figure Skating – Women Single Skating – Free Skating – Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy – February 19, 2026. Alysa Liu of United States performs during the Free Skating. MILAN — Alysa Liu produced a dazzling performance to win the gold medal at the Milan Cortina Games as she capped a remarkable comeback journey to snap a 20-year Olympic medal drought for Americans in the women’s figure skating event.
Kaori Sakamoto secured silver ahead of teenaged Japanese teammate Ami Nakai, who claimed bronze.
In a commanding and joyful performance, Liu nailed jump after jump as the sold-out crowd at the Milano Ice Skating Arena erupted.
Liu stunned the skating world when she retired from the sport at age 16 after the Beijing Games in 2022 citing burnout and the desire to pursue other interests.
She returned two years later with a newfound perspective on the sport, taking control of her programs and training, and won the world championship in Boston last year.
“That was unreal,” she said after the gold medal was placed around her neck.
“Never would have thought,” she added, shaking her head.
Aptly dressed in a shimmering gold outfit, she celebrated her flawless performance by playfully flicking back her striped ponytail at the end of her routine.
Her performance left her teammate Ilia Malinin punching the air in delight as he watched on from the stands and earned Liu a season-best score of 150.20 for her free skate and a total of 226.79.
It was Liu’s second gold medal in Milan following the United States’ triumph in the team competition earlier in the Games.
She came into Thursday’s competition as the U.S.’s last realistic hope for gold after teammates and fellow “Blade Angels” Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito put themselves out of contention in Tuesday’s short program. Liu delivered seven soaring triple jumps on Thursday to become the first American woman to win an individual medal since Sasha Cohen captured silver in 2006 and the first U.S. gold medalist since Sarah Hughes triumphed in Salt Lake City in 2002.
Sakamoto, a favorite coming into the competition, was looking to win her first gold medal in her final Olympics but it was not to be as the three-time world champion and Beijing bronze medalist paid the price for failing to deliver one of her jump combinations. She finished second with a total of 224.90.
Nakai came into Thursday’s free skate leading both Sakamoto and Liu. While she nailed her opening triple Axel, her next element did not go to plan as she mistimed the expected triple loop-triple toe loop combination and had to settle for a triple-double effort — which effectively cost her the gold.
The 17-year-old surprisingly finished a lowly ninth in the free skate but secured bronze with a total of 219.16.
The highly anticipated women’s event marked the end of the figure skating competition at the Milan Cortina Games. Musician Megan Thee Stallion and tennis great Maria Sharapova were among those in attendance.
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
Sports
Super Bowl LX ratings given late boost, still shy of record
Feb 4, 2026; Santa Clara, CA, USA; NBC Peacock television camera with Super Bowl LX logo at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Nielsen adjusted the ratings for Super Bowl LX, bumping the final viewership numbers to 125.6 million.
The Seattle Seahawks’ victory over the New England Patriots was originally reported to have averaged 124.9 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, Telemundo and other digital platforms. Nielsen said the update was to due a Big Data provider not properly collecting data from its devices on game day.
The new figure still makes Super Bowl LX the second-most watched in history, trailing the record 127.7 million who watched last year’s Super Bowl. However, the Feb. 8 game, won 29-13 by Seattle, was the most-watched show in NBC history and drew a combined average household rating of 39.7.
–Field Level Media
Sports
All-Star events draw biggest audience in 24 years
Feb 15, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Team USA Stars guard Anthony Edwards (5) of the Minnesota Timberwolves celebrates with the MVP trophy after the championship game during the 75th NBA All Star Game at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images The NBA’s All-Star festivities drew their largest viewing audience in nearly a quarter-century last weekend, the league announced Thursday.
The league said 46 million people in the United States watched All-Star weekend across the NBC platforms and ESPN, the most since 2011 and more than triple last season.
Capped off by Sunday’s reformatted USA vs. World mini-tournament of four 12-minute games, the weekend also featured Friday’s celebrity game and Rising Stars event and Saturday’s 3-Point Contest, Shooting Stars and Slam Dunk Contest.
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards was named MVP of Sunday’s 75th NBA All-Star Game at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. Edwards led the USA Stars to a 47-21 win against USA Stripes in the final.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Prez Charlie Baker still wants to ad at-large bids to NCAA Tournament
NCAA president Charlie Baker still envisions an expanded NCAA Tournament field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images NCAA president Charlie Baker rolled out the red carpet ahead of the Selection Committee exercise to set the top 16 seeds in the men’s tournament field this weekend and couldn’t help but dream of a bigger dance.
Baker and members of the Selection Committee are running their annual bracket stacking drill to be released Saturday with the public finding out where the NCAA sees the top 16 seeds in the tournament at this stage of the season.
The field will not increase in size in March. The men’s and women’s tournament field remains at 68 for 2026. But 2027 could bring a boost in field size to 72 or more, Baker has said.
“I think there’s some very good reasons to expand the tournament, so I would like to see it expand,” Baker said on Thursday in a session with select media, as detailed by tournament TV partner CBS, a network making headlines about coverage — and non-coverage — of news events and interviews. “You have to remember that some of the folks we’re talking to are going through some pretty interesting corporate conversations of their own. And I think for us, we accept and acknowledge that, but we’re still talking.”
Debate remains around how to structure a bracket growing by as many as eight spots. Baker said the number of at-large bids awarded — currently 36 — is not enough. But he doesn’t want to fiddle with the 32 at-large bids going to conference and conference tournament champions to satisfy the “bubble” teams that might be labeled the “last four out” on Selection Sunday.
“It puts some other really good teams that probably might belong there,” Baker said of the push to increase at-large bids. “But it also protects the AQs, right? Because I don’t want to end up in a situation where people say we need to do something about the AQs because we’re keeping too many good teams out of the tournament.”
–Field Level Media
Super Bowl LX ratings given late boost, still shy of record
NYT Strands hints, answers for February 20, 2026
