By Rory Carroll
MILAN, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Alysa Liu completed a remarkable career comeback to win the women's gold as her U.S. teammate Ilia Malinin endured a stunning collapse at an Olympic figure skating competition packed with surprises.
Liu, who stepped away from the sport aged just 16 after the 2022 Beijing Olympics citing burnout, returned two years later physically stronger and creatively refreshed.
The Northern California native sealed the title with an electrifying free skate featuring seven
clean triple jumps, then pointed skyward as the sold-out crowd leapt to their feet.
Kaori Sakamoto was heartbroken to only manage silver in her last Games, but Japanese figure skating is in good hands with 17-year-old Ami Nakai, who bagged bronze, and 20-year-old Mone Chiba, who finished fourth, making strong Olympic debuts.
MALININ'S MISS
Malinin's free skate unfolded in stark contrast to Liu's joyful celebration.
A star-studded crowd came expecting an Olympic coronation for the two-times world champion, who has transformed the sport with his unparalleled aerial abilities, but it was not to be.
Leading by a comfortable margin heading into the free skate, the trouble started when his planned quadruple Axel - a jump only he has ever landed in competition - turned into a single. Two falls followed, and Malinin dropped to eighth.
"I blew it," he said immediately after.
Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov capitalised to take the men's title, appearing momentarily stunned as the final standings confirmed the upset.
Malinin, 21, said mental fatigue played a role and noted he had received encouragement from American gymnast Simone Biles, who was in attendance for the free skate.
Biles battled the "twisties" after the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 before returning to the top of her sport at the 2024 Paris Games, a redemptive arc Malinin will now look to mirror with the Winter Games in France coming up in four years' time.
Malinin has handled the disappointment with poise - cheering on his teammates from the stands and delivering an emotional closing-gala performance Saturday night that doubled as a sharp commentary on life in the spotlight in the social media age.
ICE DANCE STUNNER
Ice dance produced its own surprise, with new French pairing Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron defeating U.S. veterans and three-times world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates for gold.
In pairs, Japan's Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara produced the skate of their lives to come from behind and win the country's first Olympic gold in the discipline with a powerful, Gladiator-themed free skate.
The 10 days of competition at the Milano Ice Skating Arena opened with Liu and Malinin helping the U.S. edge Japan to claim a second straight Olympic team gold medal.
It ended with Malinin's gala performance, where his trademark backflip brought the crowd to their feet in an appreciation of his talent and what also seemed like an acknowledgement of the weight he had carried.
"I feel like this gala has been so helpful to overcome the stress of everything that happened to me over the last week," he posted. "Glad I am able to express myself in such a poetic way."
(Reporting by Rory Carroll, Lori Ewing and Agnieszka Flak in Milan; Editing by Ken Ferris)
