Top takeaways from Olympic women's figure skating: Alysa Liu's glorious gold, Japan's big night, more

Japan turned up in a big way

The three Japanese skaters — veteran Kaori Sakamoto, fast riser Mone Chiba and teenage phenom Ami Nakai — entered this competition capable of pulling off a podium sweep. They didn't quite manage it, but they all placed within the top four, and that's a stellar accomplishment for a skating federation that hasn't always received the praise (and scores) it deserves.

It was Sakamoto who emerged victorious among her countrywomen, holding her nerve to take home a silver medal. She's been setting the standard for Japanese skaters for years now and served as the inspiration for every single one of her teammates. It was fabulous to see her get on the Olympic podium for a second time and even more fabulous to see the other skaters treat her with the reverence she deserves.

Amber Glenn clawed back her Olympic moment

Three-time national champion Amber Glenn entered these Olympics as a genuine medal contender, but a costly mistake in the short program — doubling her triple loop jump and losing 100% of its point value — dropped her all the way into 13th place. For Glenn, this long program wasn't about clawing back into medal contention. It was about putting together an Olympic moment she could be proud of for life.

Boy, did she ever. Glenn delivered a season-best performance, including a sky-high triple axel, to rocket herself back up the standings into fifth place. While she would've no doubt preferred to skate cleanly from the start, Glenn's emergence from the ashes at these Games was something to behold. It was a tour de force of emotional fortitude from an athlete who built her career on them.

Adeliia Petrosian's quad gamble didn't pay off

Russian skater Adeliia Petrosian — competing here as a neutral athlete due to her nation's Olympic ban — entered this event as its biggest wildcard. She hadn't competed much on the international stage, but reports suggested she was capable of bigger jumps than anyone in the field.

Petrosian delivered a tame but textbook short program to put herself in fifth place, but she pulled out all the stops in her free skate in a desperate bid to join the medal conversation. She was the only woman to attempt a quadruple jump, and she did it in her opening jumping pass.

The entire competition hinged on this jump. Petrosian knew that if she landed it, her score would be untouchable. However, she botched the landing and tumbled down the standings and out of medal contention.

Olympic figure skating has come to a close, but the top skaters in each of the four disciplines will return to the ice on Saturday, Feb. 21 for a showpiece gala.