Amber Glenn Got Brutally Honest After Heartbreaking Mistake in Women’s Short Program

Amber Glenn made a critical error on one of her jumps in the short program.

Amber Glenn made a costly mistake during the women’s short program. | Erick W. Rasco/ Sports Illustrated.

American figure skater Amber Glenn saw her chances of winning an individual medal at the Milan Cortina Games come crashing down when she made a critical mistake during the women’s short program on Tuesday.

Glenn successfully hit her triple axel and triple flip during her routine, but as she went to complete her triple loop, she came out of it early and only managed a double loop. The skill was ruled an invalid element and she earned zero points for it as she fell short of fulfilling the requirements needed for her routine. Glenn scored just a 67.39 for her program and placed 13th.

“In that moment, it was soul crushing. Because I did the hard stuff and it was the easiest thing, my favorite jump, that just got away from me,” said Glenn, via Time.

Glenn also noted that it was not nerves or the pressure of competing at the Olympics that caused her to mess up the jump, she was simply off balance.

“It’s gone. You can’t go back in time,” Glenn added. “You can’t fix it. I didn’t get to skate off like I see in other sports, where you make a mistake and you’re done and you just kind of [go] off into the woods. I wish I could do that. But they expect you to smile, and they expect you to still perform, like you’re having the time of your life, when in reality your dreams were just smashed to pieces.”

Glenn has since made light of the moment with a funny TikTok post and will return to the ice on Thursday to perform her free skate. Though Tuesday’s mistake will likely keep her from reaching the podium, she isn’t leaving the Olympics empty-handed after helping the U.S. win gold in the team event.

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