Alysa Liu became the first American figure skating world champion in nearly two decades on Friday night, dethroning three-time defending champion Kaori Sakamoto with a brilliant free skate that earned her a standing ovation inside TD Garden in Boston.

With her gold dress shimmering, Liu landed all of her jumping passes to a rendition of “MacArthur Park” by Boston native Donna Summer, and finished with 222.97 points to culminate a remarkable comeback from a two-year retirement.

As the 19-year-old Liu’s score was read, the sellout crowd roared and her coaches, Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali, pulled her into a hug. Moments later, Sakamoto came over and also gave her a hug, as if to pass her the championship torch as the first world champion from the U.S. since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium in 2006.

“What the hell?” Liu asked. “I don’t know. I don’t know how to process this.”

Sakamoto finished with 217.98 points to add a silver medal to her three previous golds. Her Japanese teammate, Mone Chiba, was third with 215.24 points while Isabeau Levito and Amber Glenn gave the Americans three of the top five.

Earlier in the night, American ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates built a big cushion as they chase a third consecutive world title, scoring a season-best 90.18 points for their rhythm dance to lead Canadian rivals Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who scored 86.44.

TENNIS

Novak Djokovic had some company for another Miami Open victory.

With Lionel Messi watching from a suite, Djokovic cruised into the Miami Open final by routing 14th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-3 on Friday at Hard Rock Stadium.

The fourth-seeded Djokovic is trying for his seventh Miami Open title in his first appearance in the event since 2019. The 37-year-old Djokovic, who won six times at the tournament’s previous venue at Key Biscayne, also is going for his 100th professional title.

He has been out of form this year, starting with an injury retirement at the Australian Open in January. Earlier this month, he lost his first match at Indian Wells to Botic van de Zandschulp.

The fourth-seeded Djokovic will try for a seventh Miami Open title on Sunday against unseeded 19-year-old upstart Jakub Mensik, who won a thriller decided by a third-set tiebreaker over No. 3 seed Taylor Fritz in Friday’s other semifinal, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-6 (7-4).

GOLF

Scottie Scheffler opened with two straight birdies and was on his way in the Houston Open, tying the Memorial Park record with an 8-under 62 for a one-shot lead when the second round was halted by darkness after a two-hour storm delay.

It was the most complete round of the year for Scheffler, who missed the first month of the season recovering from a glass puncture in his right palm that required minor surgery.

The only green he missed was on No. 2 — his 11th of the round — and he holed that from just inside 30 feet for birdie.

Scheffler also shot 62 in 2021 at Memorial Park. He shares the course record with Tony Finau, who shot 62 in 2022 and 2024.

Scheffler was at 11-under 129. He led by one shot over Taylor Pendrith of Canada, who shot a 65.

Lilia Vu didn’t feel her best on the range. She made up for that on the golf course with an 8-under 64, giving her a two-shot lead over a group that includes Nelly Korda and Jeeno Thitikul in a Ford Championship packed with LPGA stars in Chandler, Ariz.

NFL

The Baltimore Ravens extended coach John Harbaugh’s contract by three years, taking him through the 2028 season.

Harbaugh, 62, is the Ravens’ all-time winningest coach with a 172-104 record over 17 seasons, not including going 13-11 in the playoffs. He is the second-longest tenured active coach behind Mike Tomlin, who has been with the Pittsburgh Steelers coach for 18 years.

Baltimore has made the playoffs 12 times under Harbaugh, who coached the Ravens to the Super Bowl title in the 2012 season.

Harbaugh was entering the final year of his contract.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders received a contract extension through the 2029 season after turning around a downtrodden program in just two seasons.

The school said the extension increases Sanders’ yearly base salary to $10 million this year, making him the highest-paid football coach in the Big 12 Conference. The deal was reached with three years left on Sanders’ existing five-year, $29.5 million deal he signed when he was brought in from Jackson State.

Sanders and the Buffaloes are coming off a 9-4 season in which they earned a spot in the Alamo Bowl

COLLEGE SWIMMING

Texas won three of the five individual swimming events at the NCAA championships to stay atop the team standings, and Florida claimed the other two in Federal Way, Wash.

Rex Maurer of Texas held off Ohio State’s Tristan Jankovics to win the 400-yard individual medley in a personal-best time of 3:34.00 for his second individual title this week.

Luke Hobson got ahead of the field to win his third straight NCAA title in the 200 freestyle, breaking his own NCAA, American, and school record at 1:28.33.

Texas’ Hubert Kos edged Florida’s Jonny Marshall at the wall by two one-hundredths of a second to win the 100 backstroke in a world-record time of 43.20.

Florida’s Josh Liendo defended his title in the 100 butterfly with a personal-best 43.06 — the second-fastest time in history.