We were holding our breath Thursday afternoon as Amber Glenn took the ice for the women’s free skate in Milan. For the length of the Plano native’s four-minute routine, we watched in awe as she glided effortlessly under the Olympic rings, executing a beautiful triple loop, the element that left her in tears in her short program earlier in the week. Many of us were crying right along with her, sharing in the hurt she was feeling.
But Thursday was a moment of redemption for the 26-year-old star and a reminder of the wonder and power of sports. The athlete who left the ice weeping on Tuesday after missing that key jump, was pumping her fist in joy. And we were right there with her again.
Figure skating consists of two segments, the short program and free skating, also known as the long program. Final rankings and medal winners are determined based on the total score from both segments. There is little room for error.
And yet what has always set Glenn apart is not perfection, but perseverance.
Opinion
Over the last few years, we’ve watched her fight her way back from injury and navigate mental health challenges, which she has handled with poise and grace, as graceful as her command of her technique and eloquence with which she has advocated for LGBTQ rights and athletes.
“I have always been known to wear my heart on my sleeve, which is what makes me relatable, but it also makes it hard for me to hide how I feel. And in that moment, it was soul crushing,” she told Time magazine after her disappointing short program.
But Glenn didn’t let the heartbreak shake her confidence and bounced back with a season best 147.52 free skate score. The emotion on her face was evident as she looked up at the stands, her face showing determination, power and joy as she let the moment of competing on the world’s biggest stage wash over her.
Leaving the ice she reunited with her coach Damon Allen and could be overheard telling him she “locked in.”
And locked in she was.
Glenn finished in fifth place at the end of the competition, but her resilient free skate after finishing 13th in the short program was about more than medals. It was about what she could do for herself, and as her hometown paper we couldn’t be more proud.
She first started skating when she was four years old at local rinks in North Texas. She trains in Colorado now, but remains true to her Texas roots, representing the Figure Skating Club of Dallas.
She has represented North Texas on the world stage with grace and grit. When she returns home, we will welcome her with cheers. She’s earned it.
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