United States figure skating superstar Amber Glenn entered the 2026 Winter Olympics as one of the favorites to take home the gold in women’s individual figure skating. Unfortunately, however, a costly mistake on Tuesday has crushed that dream.
Glenn got off to a strong start when she cleanly landed the two most difficult jumps off the program, including a triple axel, as one of just two skaters in the entire competition to land the jump. However, she then made a costly mistake that effectively ended any hope of earning a medal.
The third – and what should have been easiest – jump of Glenn’s program was supposed to be a triple loop. However, she came out of her jump early, landing only a double loop, which was ruled an invalid element, earning her zero points for the jump.
Each skater is required to perform three jumps during their program: an axel of some kind, a combination jump that includes a triple, and another triple. With Glenn only landing a double instead of a triple, she received no points for her final jump.
Even if she had fallen while attempting the triple loop instead of simply landing a double loop, her score likely would have been much higher. In that case, she would have automatically had one point deducted from her score, but she still would have received some points instead of the zero points for the invalid element.
Glenn obviously realized her mistake immediately. While she still performed the rest of her routine, she looked lifeless and numb on the ice, knowing the gravity of her mistake. Once she finished, she immediately fell to the ice in tears.
“I had it,” Glenn told her coach as she sobbed before receiving her scores.
When the final scores came through, the result was every bit as devastating as she feared. She scored just 67.39 points, putting her in 13th place and well out of contention for a medal.
Heading into Tuesday’s event, the United States hoped to have three skaters in medal contention. Instead, only Alysa Liu is in realistic contention for a medal as the American who finished in the top six of the women’s short program.
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