The past 24 hours have been filled with golden comebacks at the winter Olympics in Milan for team USA. To my neighbors who have heard my cheering, sorry, but I’m not sorry.
Every Olympic Games tells stories of triumph, heartbreak, and redemption — but few shine brighter than those written by the women who’ve battled adversity and returned to the top of their sport. This year, a wave of unforgettable female comebacks reminded the world what true grit looks like when you find joy again. From the ice to the slopes to the rink, these athletes didn’t just compete — they reclaimed their legacies and won gold medals.
Alysa Liu
Alysa Liu becomes the first U.S. women’s figure skater to win gold since Sarah Hughes in 2002! Liu’s electric free skate drew the loudest cheers after she scored the highest score of the night with a 150.20 in the free skate that crowned her the best in the world.
When Alysa Liu first burst onto the scene, she was a teenage prodigy dazzling the world with triple Axels and fearless artistry. But early success came with enormous pressure, and after stepping away from competition, it seemed her fairy tale might have ended too soon. At age 16, she competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics, placing sixth and announced her retirement from figure skating later that summer.
Liu spent the rest of her teenage years being a kid; hanging out with her friends, going to movies, going to college, and living her life. She was happy. Then, she went skiing and felt an adrenaline rush she hadn’t felt since she was skating. After two years away from the rink, she put her skates on and felt the joy of skating again. While flirting with a comeback, she told her team if she returned, she wanted to add skating to her life and not skating be her life.
Returning with a renewed mindset focused on passion rather than expectation, she skated with freedom and confidence that judges and fans couldn’t ignore. Her performances weren’t just technically brilliant; they felt authentic. Every jump landed like a statement: this was an athlete competing on her own terms who took control of her own story.
Liu came back with something rare in elite sports: perspective. Instead of skating like someone chasing approval, she skated like someone who remembered why she loved the ice in the first place. And guess what happens when elite talent meets actual joy and their mind and body are relaxed on the biggest stages of their life? They hear the National Anthem while standing on top of the Olympic podium with a gold medal around their neck.
And in case you needed another reason to love Liu’s story, China tried to pay her to skate for China instead of America and she chose freedom over communism. Talk about star spangled awesome!
Women’s Hockey
The U.S. Women’s hockey team beat Canada in overtime to bring home the gold medal. Few rivalries are as fierce as USA vs. Canada in women’s hockey — it’s been a battle of modern power, passion, and pride in the last seven of the eight winter Olympics. However, this year, Team USA didn’t just play to win; they played to reclaim the gold medal since 2018.
With two minutes left in the game, down 1-0, team USA pulled the goalie and applied pressure. Team captain Hilary Knight came up clutch with the biggest goal of her decorated career to comeback and tie the game. Knight’s goal not only sent the game to overtime, but now makes her the all-time leader in Olympic goals (15) and points (33) in U.S. women’s ice hockey history.
And Megan Keller became the overtime hero as her shot was golden, giving Team USA their third gold medal in Olympic history.
Mikaela Shiffrin
Mikaela Shiffrin won gold in Alpine skiing women’s slalom in dominant fashion! Winning by 1.50 seconds. Let’s break this down. If you added up the winning margins from the winners at the 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022 women’s Slalom, you would get 1.51 seconds!
Mikaela won her first gold in slalom in 2014. She was 4th in 2018 and did not finish in 2022. Her Dad tragically passed away in 2020 and she had an awful crash on the slopes in 2024. The mental and physical comeback from injuries, loss, and PTSD made this gold more special. This victory marked her second gold medal in an Olympic slalom and her third overall at the Olympic Games.
Shiffrin is now the first person to repeat her first Olympic victory twelve years later. She is also the first American skier to win two Olympic slalom gold medals- both as the oldest and the youngest American woman to win Olympic Alpine gold at age 18 and age 30.
Team USA
There are so many other golden moments and comebacks at this year’s Olympics games.
Elana Meyers Taylor, Breezy Johnson, Chloe Kim, and Amber Glen left it all in Milan and we are so proud of you! Lindsey Vonn, you are in our prayers as you recover.
The scariest athlete isn’t the one who never failed. It’s the one who already has — and comes back anyway.
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