Figure Skater Amber Glenn Overwhelmed as She Makes History with Record-Breaking Score — And Becomes Favorite for Olympic Team

NEED TO KNOW

• Amber Glenn made history at the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Jan. 7
• The figure skater earned a record-breaking score of 83.05 points in the women’s short program
• She is now the leading contender to make the U.S. team at the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will be announced Sunday

Amber Glenn is heating up the ice.

The American figure skater, 26, tore up the rink at the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, securing not only a win in the women’s short program but a history-making score for her performance on Wednesday, Jan. 7.

The moment the score was announced shocked Glenn, the two-time defending champion who earned an 83.05 points for her flawless opening triple axel paired with a combination spin. After hearing her score, she was visibly overwhelmed at her history-making result.

"I knew that I came here to do my job," she said afterwards, adding, “And I was happy to see that scores were up, scores were good, and I was able to keep them going up. I felt a responsibility to keep it going better and better and better."

Glenn's score of 83.05 was especially significant given competitor Alysa Liu had broken the record just minutes earlier with 81.11 points, which resulted in a standing ovation from the packed arena at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Miss.

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Isabeau Levito finished third with 75.72 points. The three skaters are hoping to impress the U.S. Figure Skating officials, who will select the team for the 2026 Winter Olympics on Sunday, Jan. 11.

Glenn is a strong contender for the Milan Games, and if she goes, the skater will complete her long-held goal of becoming an Olympian. She was an alternate for the 2022 Beijing Olympics after withdrawing from the U.S. Championships because she contracted COVID-19.

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Recently, Glenn spoke with PEOPLE about her hopes for this Olympic journey despite it being a "long, very difficult road" to get to the Winter Games.

Glenn, the 2025 women’s national champion, could be the only U.S. women’s singles skater over the age of 25 — and the oldest in 98 years — as well as the only American woman who can land so many famously tricky triple axel jumps, her signature.

"Looking back, one thing I can say is I wasn't always the most graceful or talented or amazing skater, but there was determination," she told PEOPLE.

Glenn, who has been skating since she was 5 years old, became the U.S. junior women’s champion at age 14 — but took a step back from the sport amid a mental health crisis.

It was a dark time, she said, until she found some light from her inner circle: “I thought life was done for. There was eventually a spark that kept me going, that grew from the support around me and seeking help."

In 2019, the figure skater came out as pansexual — which is when someone is attracted to people regardless of their gender — when she made a casual remark about her sexuality in an interview with a local magazine.

While Glenn braced herself for backlash, the overwhelmingly positive reception felt like freedom. She realized she can’t control how others think: “Once I got past that, I felt like a weight was lifted off of me.”

She started racking up golds in 2023, even amid other setbacks — but now, she's not giving up.

“My story is one of resilience and getting to live my life,” she told PEOPLE, “Not perfectly, but as me.”

Read the original article on People