Amber Glenn may not have made it to the podium, but the figure skater has no regrets. Against all odds, the 27-year-old came agonizingly close to winning an Olympic medal in women’s individual figure skating at the Winter Olympics 2026.
However, Glenn is super proud of her teammate Alysa Liu, who denied a Japanese podium sweep by making a superb comeback to clinch the top honors after having previously retired from the sport following the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.
Amber Glenn Reveals Her Feelings After Near-Podium Finish At Winter Olympics 2026
Glenn had finished 13th in the preliminary round, making the road extremely tough, if not impossible, for a podium finish. However, to everyone’s shock, the figure skater gave a superb performance in the free skate round, finishing third overall.
Yet, this was still not enough to land her on the podium. Glenn finished fifth with a total of 214.91, missing the bronze medal by 4.25 points.
Despite the setback, Glenn remained cheerful. The 27-year-old gold medalist revealed her thoughts about the experience in a subsequent interview with NBC Sports, stating:
“Yeah, I did my job, and I made sure to have that moment in the sequence to where I acknowledged, ‘Hey, I’m here at the Olympics, and I’m on my feet.’ So overall, I’m pretty satisfied. And waiting in that chair for so long.”
Glenn also congratulated Liu for her gold medal performance, adding:
“But overall, you know, I’m happy that my teammate [Liu] was able to come in and do her best and win, so.”
READ MORE : ‘She Was Right There for Me’ : Amber Glenn Shares Alysa Liu’s Emotional Support After Tough Skate
Glenn won’t be returning empty-handed. She was a part of the figure skating team that successfully defended the gold medal from the Beijing Winter Olympics in the current quadrennial event. But for Liu, who finished sixth overall at Beijing, the current Olympics were nothing short of a miracle.
The 20-year-old world champion finished third in the preliminary round (short program) with a total of 76.59 points. However, she outperformed every other skater by gaining more than 150 points in the free skate round, taking her overall total to 226.79 and edging out Japanese challenger Kaori Sakamoto by two points to win the gold medal.
Sakamoto clinched the silver medal, while another Japanese skater, Ami Nakai, who had topped the group in the preliminaries, won the bronze medal. Mone Chiba of Japan maintained her consistency to finish in fourth place.
