Amber Glenn’s Arduous Path to the Olympics Turned Her Into a Trailblazer

The 26-year-old star will be the the oldest figure skater to compete in singles skating at the Winter Games. But the experience she gained along the way could make all the difference.

As the reigning U.S. champion, Amber Glenn is expected to be a gold medal contender in Milan. | James Lang-Imagn Images

Before the national titles and triple Axels, the gold medals, the Blade Angels trio and stepping onto Olympic ice, Amber Glenn just wanted to make it to the next day. 

She calls that time a personal low point: dealing with depression, anxiety and an eating disorder at age 15. Glenn stepped away from the sport, unsure if she would skate again. She spent six days at an in-patient treatment facility, departed for the Autumn Classic in Canada—her senior international debut—and then didn’t return to competition for almost a year. She continued with therapy and reconnected with friends and family. She wanted a future again.  

“I’ve been very outspoken about the ups and downs I've had in my career because I want people to know that that's okay,” the 26-year-old said after the U.S. championships in January. “It took just completely stripping down to just survive every day. Just wake up and make it to the next day.”

Slowly, Glenn found her way back to the ice. Her 2016–17 season culminated with an eighth place finish at nationals in Kansas City.

In 2022, she faced another challenge, this time on the ice. Glenn entered the Olympic year coming off a silver medal at the 2021 U.S. national championships. That performance vaulted her into the conversation for the Olympic team before a difficult short program put her in 14th. Then, a positive COVID-19 test ended her competition, and with it, her chances of being named to the team.

Amidst those lows, though, was one moment that still stands out. 

Glenn came out publicly as part of the queer community, identifying as bisexual and pansexual in a December 2019 interview with the Dallas Voice. 

“I wrestled with it for a bit,” Glenn said. “I thought, Oh, I’m just gonna kind of mention it in an article that was about someone else. It was about my training mates [pairs skaters Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc]. I thought, Okay, this is my little baby step, and barely anyone’s gonna see it. It did not stay local the next day, it was international news. It was a big leap rather than a little step.”

Glenn felt more free to be herself and it showed up in her skating. She was unsure how the news might be received, especially in a sport where so much of the judging is subjective. 

Glenn (second from right) has already won gold in Milan in the team event. | James Lang-Imagn Images

“I was scared that I’d be looked at as less feminine, less graceful or something like that,” she said. “But I realized if we're ever going to get past that worry someone has to do it,” Glenn said. “Someone has to break that mold and break that stereotype in order for the next person who comes out not to be afraid of that because they saw that it didn’t affect me, or if it did, then I was able to move past it.”

She finished fifth at the 2020 national championships a month after coming out, her best result there since she won the junior title in 2014. There were Pride flags in the audience. A year later, she took second. She learned that being herself, rather than trying to fit the box that others wanted to put her in was key.

“For many years, I felt like I was too rough around the edges,” Glenn said. “I was too muscular, I was too big, I didn’t fit the mold and I tried so hard to fit into it. Once I accepted that just wasn’t going to happen, honestly, I started kind of fitting into it a bit more. I just let myself be me and through that I was able to find a new, unique shape that hadn’t been taken before and it was accepted. I’m really lucky that it was and that’s not the case for everyone and it’s really hard when it’s not.”

Her upwards trajectory continued steadily through the 2022–23 season where she picked up bronze medals at Skate America and the U.S. championships. She made her first world championships team, finishing 12th. 

Glenn opened the next season at Skate America, the first of two Grand Prix events where she successfully completed her first triple Axel. Glenn began training the jump during the pandemic and had attempted it more than a dozen times over the previous three seasons. She became the sixth U.S. woman to land the jump cleanly in competition and won her first national title later that season.

The momentum carried. Glenn went unbeaten in her first five competitions in ’24–25, including wins at the Grand Prix final and her second national championship. A fall on the triple Axel in the short program ended her bid at a completely undefeated season at the world championships in Boston. But she picked up her third straight national title last month in St. Louis and celebrated with the Progress Pride flag, gold medal around her neck. 

“Figure skating is unique. We have more acceptance and more of a community in the queer space, and I feel like I’ve been accepted with open arms, and that’s not the case for all sports,” Glenn said. “I think we’re definitely making progress. You’re seeing more out athletes over the years, but we still have a long ways to go.”

This year, is one of firsts for Glenn: She is the first openly queer woman to represent U.S. figure skating and the oldest to compete in singles skating at a Winter Olympics. Her three straight national titles is the first such streak since Michelle Kwan (1998–2005). 

Glenn is the sixth U.S. woman to successfully land a triple Axel in competition. | James Lang-Imagn Images

Longtime U.S. skater Jason Brown called Glenn “a trailblazer.” LeDuc, who trained at the same rink as Glenn in Texas, knows about being in that role. In 2022, they were the first openly nonbinary athlete to represent the U.S. at a Winter Games. “It never gets old seeing the pride flags fill the arena,” LeDuc said on the My New Favorite Olympian podcast. “It is a testament to who Amber is as a champion because she is creating the community for people to be seen, to be themselves.”

After such an arduous journey, Glenn is now able to reflect on her role as an advocate that has come with being so open and outspoken.

“I learned a lot,” she said. “I think that being an advocate for the queer community and for mental health is one of the reasons why I keep going. Being able to be that person who has this platform now talking to all you guys, I’m able to talk about these things. 

“I'm only able to do that because I did that years ago. I came out and I've had success and that motivates me to keep having success.”