Amber Glenn delivers a true redemption story at Winter Olympics

Seven minutes.

Seven minutes every four years to show the world what you can do.

That is the life of a figure skater.

To be sure, there are competitions beyond the Winter Olympics. World Championships, National Championships, and more. But every four years the eyes of the world focus on the skaters on the eyes, and those athletes have just even minutes to showcase everything they have been working on while the world was not watching. Three minutes in a short program and, if you are lucky enough to advance, four more in the free skate.

For all but a few seconds in Tuesday’s short program, Amber Glenn was perfect. For one blink of an eye she was not, and that may have cost her a gold medal, as she finished fifth, and that gold went to Team USA’s Alysa Liu

But without question, she will leave Italy a champion.

Glenn’s journey to this moment began well before she arrived in Italy. She burst onto the United States skating scene as a teenager, making her senior-level debut at the 2015 U.S Championships at just 15 years old.

She finished 13th.

But then, her journey took a turn. Glenn was battling depression, anxiety, and an eating disorder, and struggling with her sexuality. She decided to step away from the ice, and entered a facility for inpatient treatment.

“I didn’t want to be on this Earth anymore,” Glenn said of that time in her life.

The facility helped somewhat, but what also helped was returning to the ice to train alongside Timothy LeDuc, the first out, nonbinary Winter Olympian. Training alongside LeDuc helped Glenn find herself, and return to the ice a more confident skater. Addressing her own sexuality, as she did in 2019 when she identified herself as bisexual and pansexual, also helped her along the path to this moment.

“I was scared that I’d be looked at as less feminine, less graceful or something like that,” she said. “But I realized if we’re ever going to get past that worry someone has to do it,” Glenn said. “Someone has to break that mold and break that stereotype in order for the next person who comes out not to be afraid of that because they saw that it didn’t affect me, or if it did, then I was able to move past it.”

Along the way, Glenn also leaned into various methods of dealing with her anxiety and mental health struggles, including neurofeedback, which she has credited with easing the “fight or flight” response she feels when anxiety spikes. “It’s really helped me especially control that fight or flight state that we get into when we have adrenaline and we have nerves,” she said.

Glenn missed out on the 2022 Winter Olympics, as a positive COVID-19 test in the runup to the Games cost her a chance to try and make the team. But what followed was an incredible string of performances, culminating in her third consecutive national championship in St. Louis this January. She headed to Italy as one of the favorites for gold.

And with a triple Axel in her arsenal, she had a chance to take a big step forward towards that goal on Tuesday.

The Axel is the toughest jump to execute in figure skating. It is the only jump where skaters take off facing forward, and because of that the athletes are required to executed an extra half-turn along the way. Because of that level of difficulty, the triple Axel carries a five-point bonus in figure skating over a double Axel.

Skaters who can land it are at a significant advantage over their rivals.

Only two skaters had the triple Axel in their programs on Tuesday night, Ami Nakai from Japan, who was leading when Glenn took the ice, and Glenn herself.

Glenn nailed the triple Axel early in her short program, putting her on a path to perhaps have the lead when Tuesday night concluded.

Then, in the blink of an eye, that lead was unreachable for her. As she leapt into the air for a planned triple toe loop, she pulled out of the jump early and only executed a double. She lost all seven potential points for the element, and with it, likely any chance at a medal.

As her short program wound down, it was clear that Glenn knew the ramifications:

“I had it,” said Glenn through tears as she left the ice.

When Tuesday came to a close, she was down in 13th place.

Glenn did not address the media after her short program, but did meet with reporters on Wednesday following practice. She talked about how it was her “favorite jump” that got away from her.

“I have always been known to wear my heart on my sleeve, which is what makes me relatable, but it also makes it hard for me to hide how I feel. And in that moment, it was soul-crushing. Because I did the hard stuff and it was the easiest thing, my favorite jump, that just got away from me,” said Glenn.

 “It’s gone. You can’t go back in time. You can’t fix it. I didn’t get to skate off like I see in other sports, where you make a mistake and you’re done and you just kind of [go] off into the woods. I wish I could do that. But they expect you to smile, and they expect you to still perform, like you’re having the time of your life, when in reality your dreams were just smashed to pieces.”

Still, Glenn fought to the end of her short program, despite the mistake. It was a moment she believes is a “testament” to her journey through the years.

“I didn’t have any jumps after so it wasn’t the most difficult thing to get through,” said Glenn. “I fought for all the levels that I could” to earn as many points as possible. “In the team event, I messed up in the beginning and then was able to push through to the end. So that was definitely a testament to my growth over the years.

“I did all I could do to prepare for this, but nothing can prepare you for an Olympics unless you’ve done an Olympics. I have made tremendous progress. I have never even thought that I’d be where I am today. So I have to reflect and remind myself of that.”

As far as what she wanted to accomplish in her free skate, Glenn said she wanted to recapture the “happiness” that comes with competing at the Olympics.

“I was devastated because I lost the happiness and the enjoyment that I wanted to have out there on the ice to say, ‘I fought for everything, I did everything I could.’ That’s what I truly wanted, and that’s what I missed out on. So that’s what I’m hoping to do tomorrow,” said Glenn on Wednesday. “When I was little, I always imagined me doing a spiral and looking up and being like, ‘I’m at the Olympics.’ That’s what I want.”

When an athlete opens up about their mental health path, it opens the door to questions.

Take Lando Norris, the McLaren Formula 1 driver. Norris has been brutally honest about mental health issues in the past, and has spoken often about dealing with anxiety and pressure.

But that can be a double-edged sword for an athlete.

Norris has faced questions over his mental toughness throughout his F1 career, questions that intensified as he and McLaren improved in the standings the past few seasons. Last year, Norris was locked in a three-way fight with teammate Oscar Piastri and four-time Drivers’ Champion Max Verstappen for the world title. As the season wound down, Norris faced questions over whether he was strong enough to contend for a championship.

Those questions were magnified when he was contrasted with Verstappen.

But in the end, Norris did secure his first world title, coming in the season’s final race. And his championship was perhaps a sign of a new kind of champion, a champion who was willing to be vulnerable while winning their own way.

It was something that caught the attention of none other than Lewis Hamilton.

“I think it’s great that people can be showing their vulnerability,” Hamilton told the written press after the season’s final race. “It’s a real thing in today’s world. It should be taken seriously.”

And the other edge to that sword?

The fact that someone watching in the stands, or at home, can see someone vulnerable yet competing — and thriving — on the biggest stage in their sport.

That can also be said of Glenn’s entire career, and what she did in Italy this week.

Glenn was the first of the major contenders to hit the ice, closing out the second group on Thursday night after her missed triple toe loop in the short program dropped her down to 13th place. She led her program again with a triple Axel, and much like in the short program, Glenn nailed the most difficult jump in her free skate. She then delivered on a triple flip/triple toe loop combination, getting her free skate off to an impressive start.

She followed that with a triple lutz/double toe loop combination, followed by a triple Salchow, and then another triple loop, double Axel, double Axel combination.

Yes, the triple loop that she missed on Tuesday night was back, and she delivered.

At the midway point of her performance, it was apparent that Glenn was on her game tonight. While she did touch her hand to the ice on her final jump, a triple toe loop, it was the redemption performance Glenn — and the arena — were looking for.

The look of relief across her face said it all, as did the smile.

“What a brilliant, redemptive skate from Amber Glenn,” said Johnny Weir in the NBC broadcast booth.

“Total redemption for Amber Glenn,” said 1984 gold medalist Scott Hamilton in the NBC studio.

“I made myself be happy about it. Deep down, of course, I know I could have done better … I told myself ‘you just skated, you stayed on your feet at the Olympics,’” said Glenn after her free skate to Andrea Joyce.

She also said she skated for “that six-year-old girl that never thought I’d be here.”

The score of 147.52 propelled her to first place overall for the moment, with a total score of 214.91.

It was her best free skate score of the season.

For a long time on Thursday night, Glenn remained in first place. It was only until the end of the night that a handful of skaters — including teammate and friend Liu — overtook her in the results. But for Glenn to rebound from the night she had Tuesday to ultimately finish fifth is not just a testament to the skater she is, but also to the person she is.

There’s more to being a champion than a medal around your neck, and a moment on a podium.

Sometimes, the biggest winners are those who overcome.

Glenn’s journey to the 2026 Winter Olympics has been a consistent story of falling down, and getting back up again. And for nearly all three minutes of her short program on Tuesday, she was the best women’s figure skater in the world. One missed triple toe loop will not change that.

And by returning to the ice on Thursday, and delivering the free skate she did, it was another reminder of her strength as an athlete, and a person. And while she will leave Milan with a gold medal, courtesy of her effort as part of Team USA’s squad in the team event, what she did in the individual stands out as well. A redemption story worth sharing.

Because along the way Thursday night in Milan, Glenn also succeeded at recapturing that happiness she was looking for with this free skate.

A victory bigger than any medal.