MILAN — It makes for great television during a figure skating competition, this contrivance in which the current leader sits in a special chair while other contenders vie to dethrone him or her. But while Amber Glenn delivered a free skate Thursday night that would turn out to be the third best on the bill, putting her in fifth overall, sitting in the leader’s chair for much of the night had the effect of ruling over a puppet regime.
She held no power over the evening’s events. Her medal chances had already been effectively squashed, this because her much-analyzed, much-discussed “invalid element” in the short program earned her a score of 67.39. Glenn welled up with tears when her short program score was announced, a waterworks that was also much analyzed and much discussed, especially on social media. It wasn’t pretty. Rarely is.
By Thursday night, then, Glenn was more or less an opening act for skaters who’d be out there looking to medal. But Glenn did more than make the best of an awkward situation. She embraced it. And she transformed herself into America’s figure skating cheerleader. She was out there supporting teammate Isabeau Levito, who fell and finished 12th. And she meandered along enough to cheer for Alysa Liu, whose thunderous free skate earned her America’s first gold medal in women’s figure skating since Sarah Hughes in 2002.
But as Liu was whisked off to begin a new life as an Olympic gold medalist and celebrity, Glenn, displaying none of the tears that had reduced her to a social media piñata after her faulty short program, all but announced she’s done. Talk about two ships passing in the night.
“I don’t know how long I have left (skating),” Glenn said. “So I’ll be kind of helping on the sidelines.”
Glenn offered a sneak peek at 2030 — as in the 2030 Olympics — and said: “I’ll be 30. I’m lucky my body is holding itself together right now. And it barely is.”
Amber Glenn had one of the strongest free skates of the night but had too big a hole, given a costly mistake in her short program. (Antonin Thuillier / AFP via Getty Images)
Glenn’s personal struggles have received almost as much attention as her skating. She has shared her stories: how she has battled depression, anxiety and an eating disorder. She has revealed she is bisexual and pansexual, which made her a champion and spokesperson in the LGBTQ+ community but also made her a target.
That’s a lot for a figure skater to be toting around, especially going into the Olympics. And she may have done herself no competitive favors when she spoke of this being a “tough time” in the LGBTQ+ community now that President Donald Trump is in his second term, given the backlash.
Athletes who speak out on social and political issues run the risk of being cheered by many, hooted by many and with a portion of the electorate not caring either way.
Only Glenn knows for sure whether all the “outside stuff” played some kind of role in her short program failure. What we do know, because it was right there in front of us, is that Glenn had a great long program, then had a great time sitting in Leader Land and ruling that make-believe empire for a couple of hours.
“There’s of course a lot going through my mind of just, ‘Oh my gosh, what if,’ but overall I’m happy with what I did today,” Glenn said. “I’m just really proud and happy for the legacy (Liu and Levito) are leaving on this sport.”
Her long program? “Of course there were some small mistakes, but I felt I handled myself really well,” Glenn said. “There were many, many things that I was having to struggle with to get to where I am today in that performance. I’m really happy with the way I was able to conclude this Olympics.”
And, as appears most likely, her career.
It was suggested to Glenn that she found joy Thursday night.
“I made myself find it,” she said. “I told myself, no matter what, tomorrow you’re gonna look up and say, ‘I’m at the Olympics.’”
Amber Glenn finished fifth in women’s figure skating. That’s not what the three-time United States champion envisioned when she touched down in Milan. Sharing a gold medal in the team event will bring her solace, but she may find down the road that she gets almost as much satisfaction watching replays of her turn as a combination leader’s-chair-sitter/Team USA den mother.
Glenn did look happy out there, being shown on TV yelling, “Locked in, locked in,” and, “Oh my God, thank you, thank you, thank you.” The arena announcers had her count down the launch of the second half of competition as the athletes began to warm up on the ice.
And she used her perch often to offer thundering support for her American teammates.
“What I said to Isabeau is that she looked so beautiful and that she had such determination and fight, and I was proud of her,” Glenn said. “And Alysa, I was saying, ‘This is going to change the future for figure skating,’ and I really hope all three of us can work toward that.”
That, right there, is Glenn’s future. If she kicks on the coaching/mentoring side of things, American figure skating wins. If it brings her a measure of the peace and calm that apparently have eluded her, she wins.
