Amber Glenn wins her third consecutive U.S. figure skating championship

ST. LOUIS— The moment was Amber Glenn’s. The three-time U.S. national figure skating champion couldn’t wait to share it.

After the 26-year-old solidified her trip to the Milan Cortina Olympics with a thrilling free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Friday, she quickly invited silver medalist Alysa Liu and third-place finisher Isabeau Levito into the kiss-and-cry zone. Glenn enveloped his two competitors – his friends – in a tight group hug.

“We all deserve it,” Glenn told her future Olympic teammates through tears.

Glenn, Liu and Levito are set to officially earn their spots on the Olympic roster on Sunday when US Figure Skating announces the team. With Glenn, Liu and Levito, all of whom finished in the top five at last year’s World Championships, the Americans will have one of their strongest women’s teams in decades as they aim to end a two-decade medal drought.

Sasha Cohen was the last American woman to win an Olympic medal in women’s singles with her silver medal in 2006. No American woman has won Olympic singles gold since Sarah Hughes in 2002.

Amber Glenn wins her third U.S. figure skating title in St. Louis.

“I think American women have come such a long way over the last two decades,” Glenn said, “that if the three of us, if we do our job in Milan… then it’s more than likely that someone will come up there.”

“All of us,” Liu said under his breath. Glenn modestly tucked his hair behind his ears.

In addition to the three women, three men, three ice dance teams and two couples will also travel to Milan, where the figure skating competitions begin on February 6.

Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov won their second consecutive U.S. championship as a pair and became the first duo to repeat as U.S. champions since 2014. Their combined score of 207.71 points was more than 10 points higher than runners-up 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 26-year-old Finn married Wisconsin native Mitrofanov in 2024, but the waiting period for citizenship after marriage is at least three years. The top-ranked U.S. duo, which finished sixth at the 2025 world championships, was hoping for an eleventh-hour miracle before U.S. figure skating officials met Saturday morning to decide which duet teams to send to Milan.

U.S. figure skaters (from left) Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn, Isabeau Levito and Bradie Tennell pose with their medals after the women’s free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships Friday evening.

(Stephanie Scarbrough / Associated Press)

But U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said the committee would follow the approved selection procedure, which requires athletes to have a U.S. passport at the time of nomination.

Kam and O’Shea, seventh at the 2025 World Championships, are in contention to compete in their first Olympic Games. Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman moved from fifth place after the short program to third.

The pairs competition was the only discipline the United States did not win at the world championships last year. Ilia Malinin won his second consecutive world title in men’s singles and is the favorite to win a fourth U.S. championship on Saturday and Olympic gold next month. Ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates won their third world championship and are on track to win a record seventh U.S. championship on Saturday.

With Liu as the reigning women’s world champion, the stacked field entered Friday night with seven national championships in the final group of six athletes. Two-time U.S. champion Bradie Tennell (2018, 2021) lowered her head toward the ice after her final pose as the crowd stood and applauded. She held back her tears, kissed his hand and patted the ice cream. The 27-year-old who helped the United States win Olympic team bronze in 2018 was hoping to challenge for a second Olympic appearance after withdrawing from the national championships in 2022 due to a broken foot.

But even Tennell’s highest score in a U.S. championship since 2021 couldn’t put her on the podium against the dominant trio who bring as much personality as talent to the ice.

Levito, 18, a 2023 national champion, raised both fists at the end of her clean program, then joked that she was no longer afraid of 2018 Olympian Adam Rippon.

Liu, the carefree 20-year-old, dyed white horizontal stripes on her brown hair on Thursday before performing a strong free skating routine with Lady Gaga on Friday.

Then Glenn, who said she felt like she was “going to throw up” during warm-up, weathered a shaky landing on her final triple-loop jump to become the first woman to win three consecutive U.S. figure skating championships since Michelle Kwan, who won eight from 1998 to 2005.

Amber Glenn and her coach, Damon Allen, react to her winning scores Friday night at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis.

(Stephanie Scarbrough / Associated Press)

Glenn was speechless when she heard her final score, a 150.50 that, combined with her U.S. championship record in Wednesday’s short program, put her more than four points ahead of Liu. She burst into tears and hugged coach Damon Allen around the neck. Allen’s eyes widened as he stared at the screen.

“What?” he exclaimed. “What?”

Standing only a few meters away, Liu and Levito clapped and jumped for joy.