Amber Glenn

Amber Elaine Glenn (born October 28, 1999) is an American figure skater. She is the 2024 U.S. national champion, a two-time ISU Grand Prix bronze medalist, and a three-time ISU Challenger Series medalist. She has finished within the top ten at three ISU Championships.

Early in her career, she won bronze medals at two ISU Junior Grand Prix events (2013 JGP Czech Republic, 2014 JGP France) and was the 2014 U.S. Junior champion.

Glenn is the sixth American woman to land a clean triple Axel in international competition.

Personal life
Glenn was born October 28, 1999, in Plano, Texas. Her father, Richard, works as a police officer. She has a younger sister named Brooke. She has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Glenn, who identifies as both bisexual and pansexual, is the only openly LGBTQ ladies' figure skater on Team USA.

In November 2020, she revealed that she worked with the creative team of the Yuri on Ice movie during production in August of 2017.

Career
Glenn began learning to skate in 2004. She won a bronze medal at the 2013 Junior Grand Prix (JGP) event in the Czech Republic and became a national junior champion at the 2014 U.S. Championships. Ranked fifth in the short program and eighth in the free skate, she finished seventh at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. She trained in McKinney, Texas and at Stonebriar Ice in Frisco, Texas until the rink closed in 2014.

2014–15 season
In May 2014, U.S. Figure Skating named Glenn as the recipient of the 2014 Athlete Alumni Ambassador (3A) overall award. In August, she won bronze at the 2014 JGP in France. She finished sixth at her second JGP assignment in Estonia and thirteenth on the senior level at the 2015 U.S. Championships.

2015–16 season
Glenn began the 2015–2016 season training in McKinney, Texas under Ann Brumbaugh and Ben Shroats. At the junior level, she placed fifth at the 2015 JGP Latvia. Struggles with depression saw Glenn admitted to a mental hospital, but with her first international senior assignment at the 2015 Autumn Classic International pending, she decided to leave the facility to attend. She would later describe the event as a "disaster" that she had no memory of beyond her sixth-place finish.

Following this, Glenn announced publicly that she would take a break to "reevaluate". In a 2024 profile in The Washington Post, she revealed that she had been told by her psychiatrist to stop skating indefinitely. She resumed training in February 2016 after joining Peter Cain and Darlene Cain in Euless, Texas.

2016–17 season
Glenn placed fifth at the 2016 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, fourth at the 2016 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, and eighth at the 2017 U.S. Championships. She was selected to compete at the 2017 World Junior Championships but withdrew in early March.

2017–18 season
Glenn finished eighth at the 2017 CS Lombardia Trophy. She was invited to compete at her first Grand Prix event, the 2017 Cup of China, after the withdrawal of Gracie Gold. She placed tenth in China and finished the season with a second consecutive eighth-place at the 2018 U.S. Championships.

2018–19 season
Glenn was sixth at the 2018 CS Lombardia Trophy and seventh at the 2019 U.S. Championships.

2019–20 season
Competing on the Challenger series again at the start of the 2019–2020 season, Glenn won the bronze medal at the 2019 CS U.S. Classic. This was her first senior international medal. Assigned to two Grand Prix events, she placed seventh at the 2019 Skate America and sixth at the 2019 Cup of China.

She was fourth in the short program at the 2020 U.S. Championships with a clean skate and, remarking on her then-recent coming out, said it "has brought a weight off my shoulders. It was very scary, and not having to pretend I’m someone I’m not anymore. She dropped to fifth place after the free skate and said further mental preparation was needed.  Glenn finished ninth at the 2020 Four Continents Championships, her first senior ISU championship assignment.

2020–21 season
The coronavirus pandemic prompted a multi-month hiatus from training, after which Glenn began working on mastering the triple Axel, which she had been attempting "for fun" periodically for nine years by that point. She missed an early virtual competition due to fracturing her orbital bone after passing out during cryotherapy but then attempted the triple Axel for the first time in competition during a later virtual domestic event, singling it.

With the pandemic restricting international travel, the ISU opted to conduct the Grand Prix assignments based mainly on training location. Glenn was assigned to compete at the 2020 Skate America. She placed fifth in the Skate America short program after having to execute a turn in between her triple-triple jump combination. She was sixth in the free skate, remaining in fifth place overall.

Glenn attempted her triple Axel in the short program at the 2021 U.S. Championships but was unable to land it successfully. Her otherwise strong performances earned her her highest-ever placement at the event and first senior national medal, a silver. She expressed that she was "happy to finally put out a performance I'm proud of." Glenn revealed that she had been suffering from a foot infection that had spread up to the knee and had begun a course of antibiotics on the day of the free skate.

Despite her silver medal, U.S. Figure Skating opted to name bronze medalist Karen Chen, who had finished 0.35 points behind Glenn, alongside champion Bradie Tennell to the 2021 World Championships team. It was the first time since 2008, when Katrina Hacker was bypassed in favor of Kimmie Meissner, that the selected ladies team in a non-Olympic year did not follow Nationals placements (for age-eligible skaters). Glenn was instead named first alternate. She had previously said, when asked about the prospect of the World team, "US Figure Skating should go with a team that they know will go and get those three spots back. Whether that includes me or not, I’m all for it either way."

2021–22 season
Glenn withdrew from the Skating Club of Boston's Cranberry Cup event and then made her full competitive debut at the 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy, where she placed tenth.

Beginning the Grand Prix at 2021 Skate America, Glenn did not attempt a triple Axel in competition after practice session difficulties. Seventh in both segments of the competition, she placed sixth overall with a score of 201.02, breaking 200 points internationally for the first time. Speaking afterward, she said, "breaking that point target internationally for the first time, it really makes me feel like I'm up there, and it's not just, ‘Oh, she got second at Nationals; she did this in her own country.’ I know I can hold my own internationally, and this is just a taste of that." She went on to finish seventh at the 2021 NHK Trophy. Glenn concluded the fall season at the 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, where she won the silver medal. Attempting to qualify for the American Olympic team at the 2022 U.S. Championships in January, Glenn struggled in the short program and finished fourteenth in that segment. She tested positive for COVID-19 afterward and withdrew before the free skate. She was named as an alternate for the Olympic team. Glenn would later reflect that while she had not assumed that going to the Olympics was possible for most of her career due to the expectations raised after the previous national championships, "I felt like I was expected to make it, so that made it all the more devastating. It was hard."

2022–23 season
Before starting the season, Glenn relocated to Colorado Springs, Colorado to train under Damon Allen, Tammy Gambill, and Viktor Pfeifer. She said her departure from the Cains was amicable, reasoning that "I needed to grow, not just as a skater, but as a human. I lived in the same city, the same place, my entire life."

Glenn started off her season with a bronze medal at the Skating Club of Boston's Cranberry Cup event before finishing fourth at the 2022 CS Lombardia Trophy. On the Grand Prix at 2022 Skate America, Glenn scored a personal best in her short program of 68.42, placing third in that segment and then third in the free skate as well to take the bronze medal. This was her first Grand Prix figure skating medal. On her performance in the free skate, she said afterward that "knowing that I didn't feel 100% out there when I was skating and how much room for improvement, the possibilities are endless. It really kind of just blew my mind that I'm finally starting to reach my potential." For the 2022 NHK Trophy, she vowed she was "not playing it as safe" as she had at her first event, "I'm just going to really try and go all out." The short program in Sapporo was a struggle, putting a hand down on her jump combination and then underrotating and falling on her final triple loop. She finished eleventh of twelve skaters in that segment. Glenn voiced her disappointment, saying, "it's so disheartening to have a skate like that after working so hard." She placed eighth in the free skate but remained eleventh overall.

Glenn described "mixed emotions" approaching the 2023 U.S. Championships after her disappointment the previous year. In the short program she made an error on her triple loop jump, but still placed fourth in the segment. In the free skate she stepped out of her opening triple Axel attempt, but landed six other clean triples, despite doubling one planned triple and singling a planned double Axel. She was third in that segment, rising to win the bronze medal. Glenn said she was happy with how she performed, and that she had enjoyed the experience of the national championships and the crowd support.

Assigned to the 2023 Four Continents Championships, Glenn placed fourth in the short program, 1.76 points behind third-place Kim Chae-yeon of South Korea. Her only error in the performance was putting a hand down on her solo triple loop. Glenn said that she "didn't feel as energetic" as she had wanted to be. Continuing to feel sick, she made two jump errors in the free skate and dropped to seventh overall, but said that she was glad to have stayed in a "decent mental place" given the difficulties.

Glenn competed next at the 2023 World Championships in Saitama, where she finished twelfth despite underrotating her triple Axel attempt in the free skate. She said after that "the free skate wasn't what I wanted or what I've been training, but I feel that mentally I held myself together." Glenn then joined Team USA for the 2023 World Team Trophy in Tokyo, finishing sixth in both her segments of the competition. Team USA won the gold medal.

2023–24 season
For the new season's short program, choreographer Kaitlyn Weaver proposed to Glenn the Yeah Yeah Yeahs song "Heads Will Roll", which she initially considered "out there" for her, but subsequently accepted. Weaver's vogueing choreographer also appealed to her. After an on-ice collision with another skater in practice that set back her training by three weeks, she missed the Challenger series and other early competitions.

Glenn was assigned to start the Grand Prix at Skate America, which had special significance for her as it was to be held within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex in Allen, mere miles from her hometown of Plano. Glenn said it felt "very bizarre" to begin the season this late, but fared well in the short program, placing second in the segment with a new personal best score of 71.45. In the free skate, she made her fourteenth attempt at a triple Axel in competition, landing it cleanly for the first time. She was the fourth American woman to do so in international competition. However, she struggled in the second half of the program, falling twice and dropping to fifth place overall. Glenn said afterward that it felt "incredible" to land the triple Axel, but that afterward "my own energy of the excitement killed me. I lost my focus." Glenn had a "disastrous" short program at the 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo, finishing eleventh of twelve skaters after performing an invalid double flip instead of a triple and only managing a double toe loop as the second part of her improvised jump combination. She rebounded in the free skate with a new personal best score of 133.78, after her only error was singling her planned triple Axel. She came second in that segment, and rose to the bronze medal, her second on the Grand Prix. Glenn claimed she was "so surprised" at the result, but said she was now "excited where the rest of the season goes."

At the 2024 U.S. Championships, Glenn placed second in the short program with a clean skate. She opened her free skate with a successful triple Axel, but struggled in the second half of the program, doubling a planned triple Lutz and singling a planned triple flip. Initially believing that she had missed her chance at the gold medal, the final skater Isabeau Levito fell three times, as a result of which Glenn placed second in the segment and first overall. Glenn described her reaction as "utter shock," adding that it "was definitely not the performance I would have liked to have had tonight, and I know both Isabeau and I are capable of so much more." Glenn was the first U.S. women's champion to openly identify as queer. She stated that it "has been a long journey to get to this title." Glenn had been preemptively assigned 2024 Four Continents Championships, which were to occur the week following the national championships. However, she opted to withdraw after her national title victory, citing a need to focus on the World Championships that were to take place in Montreal in March. In the short program at the World Championships, Glenn landed her first two jumping passes successfully, but fell on her triple loop, and came ninth in the segment. She also expressed thanks for audience support, noting "to see the pride flags in the audience, the messages I get, the people that come up to me – it means everything. That's one of the biggest reasons why I keep going." Glenn landed a triple Axel in the free skate, but other jump errors caused her to finish tenth overall. Reflecting, she said her next move was to "plan out a better layout for that free skate. I seem to lose focus every time in that middle part, no matter what I've tried. Different strategies, different focus points, but I always seem to kind of lose it in the middle. So, to go back home and reset for next year."

Competitive highlights

 * GP – Event of the ISU Grand Prix Series
 * CS – Event of the ISU Challenger Series
 * C – Event was cancelled
 * WD – Withdrew from competition


 * JGP – Event of the ISU Grand Prix Series
 * WD – Withdrew from event