Alysa Liu claims women's figure skating title at Milan-Cortina

MILAN, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Reigning world champion Alysa Liu of the United States delivered a commanding free skate to win the women's figure skating title at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games on Thursday.

Skating to Donna Summer's MacArthur Park Suite, Liu posted a season-best 150.20 points in the free skate and finished with 226.79 overall to take gold.

Japan's three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto showed strong technical quality, landing a triple flip, triple salchow and triple loop. However, an error on her triple flip-triple toe loop combination proved costly. She scored 147.67 in the free skate and finished with 224.90 overall for silver.

"The points I lost on those mistakes were exactly the margin that cost me the gold medal. That's the most frustrating part - I know I left something out there. Still, I achieved my goal of winning medals in both the team and individual events, so I want to recognize that," said Sakamoto.

Sakamoto's compatriot Ami Nakai, who had led after the short program, made a clear error on her triple lutz-triple toe loop combination and settled for bronze with 219.16.

Skating to French composer Claude-Michel Schoenberg's Miss Saigon, China's Zhang Ruiyang delivered a clean performance, executing elements including a triple flip-double toe loop combination, triple loop and triple salchow. She scored 118.65 in the free skate and finished 19th with 178.03 overall.

"While skating this program, I fully immersed myself in the character of Miss Saigon. Her story ends tragically, so I tried to channel that emotion and convey those feelings to the judges," Zhang said.

Reflecting on her Olympic debut, the 18-year-old said competing at the Winter Games exposed her to a deeper and more diverse field, and she hopes to apply what she learned to refine her performance quality, jumps and transitions. ■