Alysa Liu wins Winter Olympics gold to end US women’s 24-year figure skating drought

• 20-year-old delivers near-flawless free skate

• Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai win silver and bronze

Alysa Liu completed a stunning comeback to competitive figure skating by winning the first Olympic women's figure skating gold medal for the United States in 24 years on Thursday night.

The 20-year-old from Clovis, California, who vanished from the sport nearly four years ago uncertain if she'd ever return, delivered a career-best long program to overtake Japanese rivals Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai. Skating in a shimmering gold dress to Donna Summer's MacArthur Park Suite, Liu cleanly landed all seven of her triple jumps, including three in combination, and drew a standing ovation before finishing with 226.79 points overall.