After injuries and mental strife, Amber Glenn sets out to defend her US Figure Skating title
After injuries and mental strife, Amber Glenn sets out to defend her US Figure Skating title
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Amber Glenn has fought through so many injuries and mental roadblocks over the years that nobody would have thought less of her had she given up figure skating, the sport that has brought her so much stress yet so much joy.
One of the best hopes for an American medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics, the 25-year-old tackled head-on an eating disorder, which is all-too common in the sport. She has battled depression and learned to cope with ADHD, which at one point drove her to take eight months away from the ice. And she has become a popular champion for the LGBTQ community.
Now, at an age when many rivals contemplate retirement, Glenn has reached something approaching inner peace, and it has translated into a late-career revival. She has not lost in any competition in more than a year, last month becoming the first American to win the prestigious Grand Prix Final in nearly 15 years, and beginning Thursday night will attempt to defend her gold medal at the final U.S. Figure Skating Championships before the Milano-Cortina Games.
“It’s taken many, many years to get to this point,” Glenn said. “I went through a point being just at my lowest, to recovering, to being at a place of stagnant — I was OK. I wasn’t great but I was surviving, which isn’t thriving, but I was surviving. I would have flare-ups, setbacks, things would happen. I was in a more delicate state but more stable than when it came crashing down.”
That was back in 2015 and ’16, Glenn explained, when she was considered an up-and-coming prodigy, poised to follow in the footsteps of such American champions as Tara Lipinski, Michelle Kwan, Sasha Cohen, Kimmie Meissner and Rachael Flatt.
Instead, Glenn found herself in a mental health facility shortly before her first senior international competition. She went on to finish sixth at the Autumn Classic, but then stepped away from the sport entirely to focus on her personal well-being.
She didn’t quit, though — not on figure skating or herself. And while there were still hurdles for Glenn to overcome, including a series of concussions, she began to see progress, and that gave her the confidence to keep going.
“As I came into my own and really did some reflection on who I am, and along with that the coming out, deciding to skate how I wanted to skate — not for the scores but for myself — and doing things like that even in my everyday life, it has been essential for my growth both mentally and in the sport,” Glenn said. “I would say I really came into my own my last couple years, and my crisis was ’15-16, but luckily I had a lot of good resources, a lot of good tools and people I asked for help.
“And here I am now,” she said with a smile, “doing what I never thought I would be capable of.”
With her confidence soaring, Glenn began this season by winning the lower-level Lombardia Trophy and then triumphed at the Cup of China and Grand Prix de France; the first Grand Prix wins of her career. At the event in France, Glenn landed a triple axel in the short program and scored 78.14 points, the highest ever for an American woman.
At the Grand Prix Final in December, Glenn won both the short program and free skate to become the first American woman to win the event since Alissa Czisny stood upon the top step of the podium in 2010.
“It started with (last year’s) national championships. There was the world championships, a break, and I didn’t really know how to navigate being the champion,” Glenn said. “Then I got my first international win and it just kept going.”
Now, after the withdrawal of 2023 champ Isabeau Levito due to injury, Glenn is favored to win her second straight national title this week. Her biggest competition figures to be Alysa Liu, a 2022 Olympian in the midst of a comeback; two-time champ Bradie Tennell, who has been dealing with injuries of her own; and rising stars Sarah Everhardt and Elyce Lin-Gracey.
Two-time defending world champs Madison Chock and Evan Bates are even bigger favorites to win their fourth straight U.S. ice dance title, and their sixth overall. They have the world’s top score this season of 219.85 points, which the 2022 Olympians set while winning their second consecutive Grand Prix Final.
Ellie Kam and Daniel O’Shea are the top pairs team following their fifth-place finish at the Grand Prix Final.
In the men’s competition, 20-year-old Ilia Malinin — the reigning world champion and favorite to win Olympic gold in just over a year — could once again showcase the quad axel, a 4 1/2-revolution jump that only he has landed in competition.
His event wraps up four days of competition Sunday. Then comes the world championships in Boston in March, followed by …
“The event that’s 13 months away, I’m definitely excited for it. It’s a little bit in the back of my mind,” Malinin said of the Winter Olympics. “I just want to get through this season, and when I get the down time between seasons, that’s when I can begin planning my process and that strategic plan for it.”
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympicsAP
By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer
