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COLUMBUS, Ohio – When eventual winner Amber Glenn finished her free skate, she was dejected, her head bowed and her eyes downcast as she knelt on the ice.
When defending champion Isabeau Levito finished her free skate a few minutes later, she was dejected and covered her face with her hands as she knelt on the ice.
Rarely has a national championship had such a discouraging ending, even if Glenn’s triumph after years of struggle deserves to be celebrated.
“It wasn’t exactly how I wanted to get my first national title,” Glenn said. “It was a combination of being extremely grateful for the results and also knowing that I can do much better.”
FIGURE SKATING NATIONALS: Results | Broadcast schedule
Despite two major jump errors after opening with a flawless 3-pointer from Axel and then hitting four more solid 3-pointers, Glenn managed to win because the usually consistent Levito had a surprising implosion.
Levito, 16, fell on his first jump pass, then appeared to have recovered well before falling twice more in the second half of his program. She finished third.
“This whole night was kind of a fever dream,” Levito said. “I was so shaky and nervous.”
Not since Michelle Kwan unraveled in the 1997 free skate, falling on three jumps and landing a fourth in losing to Tara Lipinski, has a reigning U.S. champion stumbled so badly.
The performance of the night came from 15-year-old Josephine Lee, who won the free skate to place second.
Glenn, 24, scored 210.46 points compared to 204.13 for Lee and 200.68 for Levito.
“When I made that first mistake, I thought, ‘What am I doing?'” Levito said. “Then I recovered for a couple of minutes. I don’t remember how I fell into the flip and loop.”
Levito, fourth in freestyle, had scored 23 more points to win last year.
Glenn has continued to work hard for a decade after winning the junior national title in 2014, when his promise seemed immense.
He would need a break from the sport in 2015 for mental health reasons. Glenn nearly quit after being forced to withdraw from the 2022 Nationals, where she tested positive for Covid following a poor short program when she was already ill.
“After this last Olympic cycle, I had to figure everything out from scratch, completely restart,” Glenn said. “I never thought that would lead to a national title.”
Glenn changed coaches before last season, moving to Damon Allen in Colorado Springs after spending his entire life living and training in Texas. He finished third at the 2023 Nationals.
“Of course, I would like to go back in time and bring the knowledge I have now to my younger self and save myself a lot of heartache and pain,” Glenn said. “But I’ve been through what I’ve been through and I’m stronger for it.
“It’s been a long journey to get to this title.”
In a way, it was fitting that Glenn went through agony and ecstasy while winning.
As was the case when he finally landed triple Axel twice earlier this season, Glenn couldn’t stand the prosperity. This time, the costly mistakes were doubling a triple lutz (and skipping the second jump of a planned combination) and performing a triple flip.
She lost between 12 and 15 points and was sure that the title had escaped her.
Instead, Glenn became the first openly queer women’s singles national champion. She came out during the 2020 season.
“Being the first openly queer women’s champion is incredible,” Glenn said, wearing a pride pin on her warm-up jacket. “When I initially came out, I was terrified. “I was afraid it would affect my scores or something.”
“But I didn’t care. It was worth it to see the number of young people who felt more comfortable in their environment on the rink, (people) who feel, ‘Oh, I’m represented by her and she’s one of the best skaters (so) no, you don’t have to try. hide me
“Just because you look like this (in your life) doesn’t mean you can’t be a high-level athlete.”
Nothing could have made that point clearer than seeing Amber Glenn atop the medal podium.
Philip Hersh, who has covered figure skating at the last 12 Winter Olympics, is a special contributor to NBCSports.com..
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