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 rousing free skate at the U.S. figure skating championships Friday, she quickly invited silver medalist Alysa Liu and third-place finisher Isabeau Levito to the kiss-and-cry area. Glenn wrapped both of her competitors — her friends — into a tight group hug.
“We all deserve it,” Glenn said tearfully to her soon-to-be Olympic teammates.
Glenn, Liu and Levito are primed to officially earn their spots on the Olympic roster Sunday when U.S. Figure Skating announces the team. With Glenn, Liu and Levito, who all 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 their two-decade-long medal drought.
Sasha Cohen was the last American to win an Olympic medal in women’s singles with her silver in 2006. No U.S. woman has won singles Olympic gold since Sarah Hughes in 2002.
Amber Glenn wins her third U.S. figure skating title in St. Louis.
“I think the U.S. ladies have come so so far in the last two decades,” Glenn said, “that if all three of us, if we do our jobs in Milan … then more than likely someone’s going to be up there.”
“All of us,” Liu said under her breath. Glenn modestly tucked her hair behind her ears.
In addition to the three women, three men, three ice dance teams and two pairs also will go to Milan, where figure skating competition begins on Feb. 6.
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov won their second consecutive U.S. pairs championship and became the first pair to repeat as U.S. champions since 2014. 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 U.S. Figure Skating officials meet Saturday morning to nominate the pairs 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 on Friday night.
(Stephanie Scarbrough / Associated Press)
But U.S. Figure Skating chief executive officer Matt Farrell said the committee will follow the approved selection procedure, which requires athletes to have a U.S. passport by the time of nomination.
Kam and O’Shea, who placed seventh at the 2025 world championships, are in line to make their first Olympics. Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman jumped from fifth place after the short program to third.
The pairs competition was the only discipline the U.S. did not win at the world championships last year. Ilia Malinin won his second consecutive men’s singles world title and is the favorite to win a fourth U.S. championship Saturday and the Olympic gold medal next month. Ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates won their third world championship and are on track to claim a record seventh U.S. championship Saturday.
With Liu as the reigning women’s world champion, the stacked field entered Friday night with seven national championships in the final six-athlete group. Two-time U.S. champion (2018, 2021) Bradie Tennell bowed her head to the ice after her final pose as the crowd stood and cheered. She held back tears, kissed her hand and patted the ice. 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 because of a broken foot.
But even Tennell’s highest score at a U.S. championship since 2021 couldn’t get her on the podium against the dominant trio that brings as much personality as talent to the ice.
The 18-year-old Levito, the 2023 national champion, raised both fists at the end of her clean program then joked in the kiss-and-cry that she is no longer afraid of 2018 Olympian Adam Rippon.
Liu, the carefree 20-year-old, dyed white horizontal stripes into her brown hair Thursday before performing a strong Lady Gaga free skate program Friday.
Then Glenn, who said she felt like she “was gonna throw up” during warmups, fought through 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’s jaw dropped when she heard her final score, a 150.50 that, combined with her U.S. championship record short program score from Wednesday, put her more than four points ahead of Liu. She broke down in 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 feet away, Liu and Levito clapped and jumped with joy.