The Team USA skater fell to 13th place after flubbing a jump during her short program
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Amber Glenn.Credit : Amber Glenn/TikTok; Joosep Martinson/Getty
Amber Glenn says she is “coping well” one day after skating a disappointing short program that landed her in 13th place at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
On Tuesday, Feb. 17, the Team USA skater, 26, started strong, landing her triple axel. But she flubbed a jump when she popped out of a triple toe loop, which hurt her final score.
Afterwards, Glenn was seemingly inconsolable as she tearfully skated off the ice to the kiss-and-cry area where she received her score, 67.39, more than 11 points off the lead.
The following day, the Plano, Texas native shared two posts on social media that gave a status update on her current mood on the eve of Thursday’s final.
“Landing my highest scoring 3Axel,” she wrote over a video of herself celebrating, before she then hung her head, “Messing up the last jump and getting it invalidated.”
“I’m coping well thanks for asking 🤪” Glenn captioned the TikTok.
On her Instagram Stories, the U.S. national champ shared an adorable image of a dog wearing a baseball cap with an inspirational message.
“The world has ended for me many times and yet tomorrow still comes. Keep going,” the post read.
Coming into the Olympics, Glenn was a favorite, having earned eight individual first-place finishes since 2024. The athlete, an outspoken mental health advocate, has also won the last three U.S. championships, according to NBC Sports.
During the Games, she won a gold medal as part of the team skating event.
When she skated off the ice in Milan on Tuesday, commentator Tara Lipinski articulated what many fans were thinking.
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Amber Glenn.Xue Yuge/Xinhua via Getty
“This is heartbreaking to watch,” the 1998 Winter Olympics gold medalist said.
Teammate Alysa Liu’s short program was a success, landing her in third place going into Thursday, but it was Glenn’s emotional state that was on her mind.
“She’s gone through so much and she works so friggen’ hard, like genuinely, such a hard worker and she’s overcome a lot,” Liu told reporters, including PEOPLE. “I just want her to be happy. That’s genuinely all I want. And so I’ll be seeing her later, don’t worry guys. We’ll stick together.”
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Milan Cortina Olympics and Paralympics, beginning Feb. 6, on NBC and Peacock.
