Facing a seven-point deficit after a shaky short program, American figure skater Amber Glenn seemed an unlikely candidate to draw headlines during Thursday’s free skate.
An Olympic gold medal in women’s singles was all but out of reach. A podium finish also looked unlikely for the 26-year-old, particularly with other standouts like Alysa Liu, Kaori Sakamoto, Ami Nakai, and Mone Chiba all in contention.
In the end, Glenn did fall short of winning one of those Olympic medals, but she gave herself a chance with a sterling showing at Milano Ice Center, prancing, dancing, and spinning her way to one of the highest scores in the competition.
Here’s what you need to know.
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Amber Glenn free skate video
What place did Amber Glenn get?
Standing seven points from the podium following Tuesday’s short program, Glenn needed a mammoth figure in free skate to give herself shot at a medal.
She gave it her best shot on Thursday afternoon. Glenn found her rhythm early, completing her patented triple axel before authoring up a splendid triple toe loop — the element that condemned her to a 13th-place showing in short.
The hits came on coming for Glenn as the competition wore on. Leaping to “The Return”, an ethereal track by Canadian artist CLANN, Glenn looked at peace as she strolled onto the plain.
It wasn’t quite a faultless routine — Glenn had to use her hand to balance herself after slipping up on her final triple toe loop.
Nevertheless, it was just the sort of display she wanted to put forward following her short program miscues. Glenn posted a 147.52 with her showcase, a season-best and far better than the skaters who preceded her. Glenn surged into first place with her outing and stayed their until the final rotation. Glenn finished in fifth, although her free skate program was the third-best of the day, trailing only gold medalist Alysa Liu and silver medalist Kaori Sakamoto.
MORE: Alysa Liu drops F-bomb in reaction to gold-medal-winning free skate
Amber Glenn personal best
Glenn’s best-ever free skate showing came at the 2025 World Team Trophy, when she posted a 148.93 total segment score. She was aided in that performance by a glistening 80.95 technical elements mark.
Glenn fell less than a point short of her career-best women’s singles outing with her Olympic display. She tallied a 215.54 en route to capturing gold at the 2024 Cup of China.
