ST. LOUIS — Amber Glenn covered her head with both arms, heaving on her knees with her forehead bowed to the ice at Enterprise Center. She soaked in the standing ovation and let stuffed animals rain down around her.
Glenn won her third consecutive U.S. figure skating championship Friday, paving the way for the 26-year-old’s first Olympic appearance. She likely will be joined in at the Milan Cortina Olympics next month by Alysa Liu, who finished second, and U.S. bronze medalist Isabeau Levito.
Glenn’s jaw dropped when she heard her final free skate score of 150.50, a season-best. She broke down in tears and she hugged coach Damon Allen around the neck. Allen’s eyes widened as he stared at the screen.
“What?” he exclaimed. “What?”
Glenn then quickly motioned for Liu and Levito to join her in the kiss-and-cry. The trio embraced in a tight hug. Glenn told her likely Olympic teammates: “We all deserve it.”
The group forms what could be the strongest U.S. women’s team in decades as the Americans will try to end a long Olympic drought. Sasha Cohen was the last American to win an Olympic medal in women’s singles in 2006. No U.S. woman has won singles Olympic gold since Sarah Hughes in 2002.
Glenn dominated the short program Wednesday to give herself a more than two-point lead going into Friday’s free skate. Her clean “Like a Prayer” short program earned 83.05 points, which set a U.S. championships record. It eclipsed the national championship record score Liu set just minutes before.
Liu, the reigning world champion and Grand Prix Final champion, scored a season-best 81.11 during the short program Wednesday. Then she dyed a white halo into the crown of her hair Thursday before performing a Lady Gaga free skate program, scoring 147.80.
Levito raised both fists at the end of her clean program. Sitting with her hands folded neatly in her lap in the kiss-and-cry, the 18-year-old’s eyes widened when she saw her score of 148.73 launched her into first place.
The final group of six competitors had seven national championships combined, including two-time champion Bradie Tennell. After her ending pose, Tennell bowed her head to the ice as the crowd stood and cheered. She held back tears, kissed her hand and patted the ice. The 27-year-old won the U.S. title in 2018 and 2021, but had to withdraw from the national championships in 2022 because of a broken foot that kept her out of the Olympics.
The 2018 Olympic team bronze medalist hoped to return to the Games, but even her highest score at a U.S. championship since 2021 was only good enough for fourth.
Three women — presumably Glenn, Liu and Levito who all finished in the top five at world championships last year — will lead the Olympic roster when it is announced Sunday. Three men, three ice dance teams and two pairs will also go to Milan.
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov won their second straight U.S. pairs title. Their combined score of 207.71 points was more than 10 points better than second-place finishers Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, but Efimova and Mitrofanov are unlikely to be eligible for the Olympics because Efimova is not yet a U.S. citizen.
The Finland-born 26-year-old married Mitrofanov, a Wisconsin native, in 2024, but the waiting period for citizenship after marriage is at least three years. The top-ranked U.S. pair that finished sixth in the 2025 world championships was hoping for an 11th-hour miracle before the team announcement.
Kam and O’Shea, who placed seventh at the 2025 world championships, are in line to make their first Olympic appearance by finishing second. Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman jumped from fifth to third after the short program.
The pairs competition was the only discipline at world championships last year that the United States did not win.
The post Amber Glenn wins her third consecutive U.S. figure skating championship appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
