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

Florida approaches the stretch run of SEC play in dominance mode.

The No. 12 Gators (20-6, 11-2 SEC) remain in sole possession of first place in the conference heading into their game against Ole Miss on Saturday in Oxford, Miss.

They have won 11 of their last 12 and their wins during their current six-game streak have come by an average of 22 points. But Florida head coach Todd Golden recognizes that some wins are going to be easier than others.

“Anytime you can win, that’s a huge step in the right direction,” Golden said. “And I tell these guys all the time when we’re preparing for games: I don’t care if it’s Alabama, I don’t care if it’s Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina — we’re treating that game like the national championship.”

The Gators, the defending national champion, began the winning streak with their most lopsided victory of the season, a 95-48 dismantling of host South Carolina on Jan. 28. But when they played host to the Gamecocks on Tuesday night, the margin was much smaller in a 76-62 outcome.

“I feel like there’s an expectation right now with our program that if we’re not up by 15 at halftime, if we don’t win by 25, (then) something isn’t going right,” Golden said. “But even when we’re not at our best, I think we’re really good.”

Golden acknowledged the Gators didn’t play their best the last time out, but they still enjoyed a comfortable lead virtually the entire game. Only a 92-83 victory against Kentucky last Saturday came by single digits during the winning streak.

“We’ve just got to attack it,” Gators forward Alex Condon said. “That’s what championship teams do every night — come out with the same mentality and keep rolling.”

Condon had 20 points and 10 rebounds Tuesday. Center Rueben Chinyelu had his 16th double-double of the season, finishing with 15 points and 17 rebounds to bring his average over the last five games to 16.2 rebounds.

The Gators’ size is of particular concern for Ole Miss, which got outrebounded 37-23 in an 80-77 road loss to Texas A&M on Wednesday night. The Rebels (11-15, 3-10) were beaten 16-4 on the offensive glass and gave up 18 second-chance points.

“The difference in the game is offensive rebounding for them,” Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard said. “The reason we’re not in a little bit better mood is we’re one or two blockouts away.”

Rebounding has been a consistent problem for Ole Miss, which has lost eight games in a row. The Rebels rank 15th in rebound margin (minus-2.3 per game).

Florida leads the conference in rebounds (46.0) and the nation in rebound margin (plus-14.6).

Despite the rebounding issues against the Aggies, the Rebels played better than they did four days earlier in a 90-78 home loss to Mississippi State. They led Texas A&M for most of the game but got outscored 12-2 down the stretch while going scoreless for the final 3:32.

“I thought in a lot of ways we outplayed the opponent,” Beard said. “(We were) probably deserving of winning the game.”

–Field Level Media

No. 8 Kansas has learned to win without the presence of its leading scorer as it prepares to host suddenly surging Cincinnati in Big 12 Conference play on Saturday in Lawrence, Kan.

The Jayhawks (20-6, 10-3 Big 12) got the full Darryn Peterson experience on Wednesday in a commanding 81-69 road win over Oklahoma State. Peterson was electric in a 20-point first half, mixing sharp shooting from 3-point range, explosive drives to the basket and the ability to coax defenders into fouling him.

Peterson saw just three minutes of court time in the second half and finished with 23 points. His impromptu signal for a sub caught Kansas coach Bill Self off guard.

Later, Self said Peterson “was cramping,” and added the Jayhawks have learned how to play without the freshman phenom and presumptive NBA lottery pick.

“We’ve had to do it more than a couple times,” Self said. “I didn’t anticipate that at all tonight. I thought he was good to go. We only got 18 minutes out of him and that’s disappointing because he could have had a really big night.”

Kansas has found alternative ways to come out on top. The Jayhawks have won nine of their last 10 games to climb from 22nd to 13th in the NCAA NET rankings. Kansas has a strong resume, as all six of its losses are in Quad 1 games.

While Peterson (20.0 points in 26.9 minutes per game) leads Kansas in scoring, Flory Bidunga (14.5 points), Melvin Council Jr. (13.8) and Tre White (13.8) also score in double figures. In the 11 games Peterson has missed and the numerous times he’s been limited, redshirt sophomore Elmarko Jackson (5.2 points) has stepped up his game.

Against the Cowboys, Jackson provided 14 points, four assists and three rebounds off the bench.

“It’s happened often enough that our guys have learned to play without (Peterson),” Self said. “Even though that’s not the way we want to play, that’s certainly something we are accustomed to right now.

“Elmarko was our best player over 40 minutes (against Oklahoma State). He’s learned to not put himself in as many compromising positions offensively. When the ball moves, there’s not as much built-in help. When he makes a decision to go (to the rim), there aren’t as many guys there guarding him.”

Riding a three-game winning streak — their first since opening the season 4-0 — the Bearcats (14-12, 6-7) are on the outside looking in when it comes to being an NCAA Tournament qualifier, but they’re getting hot as the Big 12 tournament approaches.

The Bearcats are 63rd in the NET and are only 1-9 against Quad 1 competition. Their home upset of then-No. 2 Iowa State on Jan. 17 stacks up as their only win over a definite NCAA Tournament team.

Cincinnati topped Utah 69-65 Sunday at home with a late 9-0 run. Moustapha Thiam had 15 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks on what coach Wes Miller said was “a tweaked ankle.” Thiam had missed two of the Bearcats’ three previous games.

“It’s part of basketball sometimes,” Thiam said. “You hurt something sometimes. I’m just trying to get on it as much as I can. Whenever I feel bad and get down on myself, I ask myself why. Because I want to get back out on the court. I want to play.”

–Field Level Media