Amber Glenn broke down after being unable to give her best in the women’s singles category [short program] at the Winter Olympics 2026. This was the American figure skater’s Olympic debut.
Glenn had qualified alongside Alysa Liu and Isabeau Levito for the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. She had edged out the reigning world champion Liu to clinch the gold medal at the 2026 US Figure Skating Championships.
All About Amber Glenn’s Performance in the Short Program at the Winter Olympics
Glenn, Liu, and Levito participated in the women’s singles preliminaries at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, held at the Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan, one of the two host cities alongside Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The preliminaries consisted mostly of the short program, whose scores would determine the ticket to the finals, which would be held on February 19.
The reigning world champion Liu qualified for the finals as the third-best-performing skater with a total score of 76.59. She was followed up by Levito, who scored an average performance of 70.84 to finish in the eighth position.
However, Glenn, who was expected to nail it at the Winter Olympics, was left shattered after she couldn’t make it close to the podium.
The 20-year-old Liu was extremely concerned for Glenn after the preliminaries. She expressed her thoughts in a post-game interview, where she mentioned,
“She’s gone through so much, and she works so freaking hard. I just want her to be happy. Like, that’s genuinely all I want. And so I’ll be seeing her later.”
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Glenn performed on Madonna’s song ‘Like A Prayer’, and executed a smooth triple axel, which is a rare feat for even the best skaters. Glenn was all set to qualify for the finals with flying colors.
She aimed for a triple jump, but landed a double, stumbling in between. In the end, Glenn finished with a meagre total of 67.39, which landed her in the 13th position overall.
While Glenn has qualified for the finals, it is unlikely she will clinch a podium finish until she delivers a near-perfect performance in the free state category, which would earn her a perfect score.
The best example would be the performance of Petr Gummenik, who represents the Individual Neutral Athletes [due to Russia’s ban from participating in the Winter Olympics].
He finished a disappointing 12th in the preliminaries but gave a near-perfect performance to finish fourth, allowing him to finish sixth overall in the finals.
So, unless and until Glenn tops the free skate program, the chances of her podium finish are extremely difficult, if not impossible.
