Amber Glenn devastatingly finished in 13th place in the women’s short program in figure skating on Tuesday. The medal-hopeful failed to execute one of her jumps, causing her to earn a zero in a category to drop her score. She was noticeably in tears coming off the ice.
It was difficult to watch Glenn struggle with how her performance panned out. Fans began worrying about her well-being, especially when the cameras turned off.
Glenn updated her fans on how she was doing in a unique way on Tuesday evening by sharing a post on her Instagram stories. The post showed a picture of a smiling dog with the words “the world has ended for me many times and yet tomorrow still comes. keep going.”
amber 🥺🤍 pic.twitter.com/rA4lz6unzL
— sofiya (@ghafaera) February 18, 2026
Glenn’s time at the Milan Cortina Olympics isn’t over yet—she will perform in the women’s free skate on Thursday. Her chances of medaling aren’t zero percent, but she would have to outscore most of her competition in order to reach the podium. Glenn scored 67.39 in the short program, while Japan’s Ami Nakai sits in first with a score of 78.71.
Glenn opened up about her mental health struggles in an interview with USA Today’s Jordan Mendoza, sharing that she’s dealt with depression, anxiety and an eating disorder at points in her life. She shared that she “didn't want to be on this Earth anymore” at one point around 2015, when she debuted at the senior level at the U.S. figure skating championships. This is when she checked into a facility to receive treatment, and since, she’s seen much improvement in her confidence and drive.
The 26-year-old isn’t the first American skater to open up about mental health during these Games. Her Team USA teammate Ilia Malinin also made some major mistakes in the men’s individual competition, causing him to fail to medal after he was seen as the heavy gold favorite. He posted on social media about the “invisible battles” he was facing. The two young American skaters are shining a light on mental health struggles amongst Olympians, which is a brave and inspiring thing to do, especially because they’re difficult topics to open up about.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Amber Glenn Posts Uplifting Instagram Story After Upsetting Skating Performance.
