Amber Glenn on her new role as U.S. champion and a renewed Olympic dream: ‘I really do see it as a possibility’
The 24-year-old claimed her first national title in January and spoke about her mental health awareness, being the first out LGBTQ+ female winner, and much more.
Figure Skating
The moment that Amber Glenn became a national figure skating champion she let out a yelp and fell to the floor, unable to comprehend what she had just accomplished.
It had been a long road for the 24-year-old American, who had been a U.S. national junior champion a decade prior, in 2014.
“I worked so hard and did this the way that I'm proud to say that, 'I am a national champion,'" Glenn told Olympics.com after her win in Columbus, Ohio, in late January 2024. “I did it the right way.”
“The right way” has – as skating fans know – been uniquely her way: By taking time away from the sport for her mental health; coming out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community; going after and landing (time and again) the still-rare triple Axel; and curating a seven-figure following on TikTok as one of the sport’s creative influencers.
“I just hope that I can lead by example for any future national champions,” she says.
Having made her debut on the international Grand Prix seven years ago, Glenn’s maiden U.S. national title also has her further believing in a dream that once felt distant: The Olympic dream.
“Now being a national champion and having a couple of national medals under my belt, I really do see it as a possibility,” she says of the coming Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
“I didn't know I'd even be still skating this long. And as long as I'm on an upwards trajectory, I don't see myself stopping. It would be absolutely incredible. It would be my third cycle of trying to get there.”
Amber Glenn on her approach: 'I want to make a change' in skating
Before mental health became a prevalent topic in elite sports, Glenn was willing to listen to herself when doubts creeped in about her motivation – and emotional state – following that junior national title as a teen.
In late 2015 she stepped away, unsure of her own commitment to the demanding rigours of training.
“I was just burnt out,” she shared. “I was at a point where I could not keep going in a competitive field any longer. So, I just took time to myself and with my family and totally reset everything. And when I came back to the sport, I came back for the love of it, not even knowing if I would ever be competitive again.”
She has, indeed, been competitive, but it has been far from easy. She wouldn’t earn her first international podium until the 2019 U.S. Classic (a bronze), and then finally claimed her first U.S. medal in 2021 when she was 21 years old.
Glenn had become an advocate for a myriad of topics that were still under-discussed in the sport, including body image and disordered eating.
“I was open about my mental health situation and having the issues with eating disorders, how it's a problem in sports like figure skating,” she says. “And I received some great feedback from that. So that's what inspired me to also just throw it all out there and be like, ‘You know what? Whatever I do, I at least want to make a change in the sport, whether I do it as the top athlete in the country or just some random person that inspires one or two kids.’
“So that was definitely a stepping stone to get to where I am now.”
Glenn is first openly LGBTQ+ female to win U.S. title
Part of that journey has included her openness around her sexuality, with Glenn identifying as both bi- and pansexual. Her January U.S. title made her the first openly queer female champion in American skating history.
Pride flags unfurled around Nationwide Arena in Columbus during Glenn’s skates, and she was handed one after being presented the gold medal, wrapping it around her and posing for photos centre ice.
“Every time I get discouraged when I go out there to compete and I see those [pride] flags and people tell me these stories about how me coming out made them more comfortable at their home rink or just with themselves... it means everything.
“It's an electrifying feeling. I feel the support. You know, it makes me want to do even better. It just gives me a little bit of a reminder of why I do this.”
Glenn heads to the World Championships with Team USA next month in Montreal with that Olympic dream intact and experience on her side: Last year, in her debut, she was 12th. This year, as the U.S. champion and with a bronze at the Grand Prix of Espoo in November, she’s upping her expectations.
“Last year I went to Worlds... and I was like, 'Oh, I'm just excited to be here!'” she recalled. “Whereas this time I feel like I'm going in and I'm trying to place as high as I can for the next year's Worlds; that's my job and that's my responsibility. And I want to work as hard as I can and be as smart as I can to accomplish that goal.”
While she aims to inspire others with her ongoing successes, Glenn has another youngster in mind as she continues to level up in the sport: Herself.
“One of my biggest motivators is trying to make my younger self proud and trying to be the skater that I wish I could have looked up to and seen as a person I related to when I was young.” - Amber Glenn to Olympics.com
COLUMBUS, OHIO: Amber Glenn celebrates after the medals ceremony for the Championship Women's competition during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at Nationwide Arena on January 26, 2024 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Amber Glenn on being 'the skating mom'
After embracing coach Damon Allen upon learning she was the 2024 U.S. champion, Glenn found Isabeau Levito, the 2023 winner backstage. Glenn’s win was bittersweet: She had skated solidly enough in both programs, including a landed triple Axel in the free, but it had been Levito, who led after the short program, who had come unravelled in the second segment to help Amber to her maiden title.
The 16-year-old from New Jersey was crushed. So Glenn sought her out, grabbing her by the shoulders to console her, tell a few jokes – and remind her that this was another step to bigger dreams... that they both had.
Glenn has become familiar to this sort of mothering role: She was the lone 20-something in the top five at U.S. Championships – the other four were all teens.
“Being the mom [at the] rink is something... I have always kind of gravitated to,” explained Glenn, who has a younger sister, Brooke. “I always try and make sure I'm not overstepping or crossing any boundaries, and that I'm doing something that makes them feel more comfortable and happy.
She continued: “It just it gives me more joy than almost anything else. And I want to see the [younger skaters] happy and succeed and avoid some issues that I might have been embarrassed [by].”
Glenn walks that talk, too: She carries a long list of supplies in with her to the rink – bandages, pain meds, snacks... just in case.
“I'll have just anything any one could need,” she said, smiling. “Not just for myself, but for anyone that needs it at the moment.”