One word might describe U.S. figure skating star Amber Glenn’s last two months: Adversity.
On Friday night in Prague, Glenn fell short of the podium in her second marquee figure skating competition this year after stumbling in the Milan Cortina Olympics. Glenn, who was chasing her first-ever World Championship medal, placed sixth overall in the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships following an error-laden free skate that saw her get docked by as many as 16 points.
In another heartbreaker, Glenn will go home without a medal despite competing in her fourth straight World Championships.
After her disappointing result, Glenn took to social media to share a hopeful message while also detailing how “exhausted” she was after this season:
“Thank you everyone for the love and support I'm okay! If anything I'm mentally, emotionally, physically exhausted after a season of extreme highs and lows. I did what I set out to do 6 years ago.
Land a Triple axel and go to the Olympics and nothing will take that away from me,” Glenn wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Thank you everyone for the love and support🤍 I'm okay! If anything I'm mentally, emotionally, physically exhausted after a season of extreme highs and lows.
— Amber Glenn (@AmberGlenn_) March 27, 2026
I did what I set out to do 6 years ago.
Land a Triple axel and go to the Olympics and nothing will take that away from me
Glenn competed alongside fellow Americans Isabeau Levito and Sarah Everhardt, who replaced Alysa Liu. None of the American women reached the podium. Instead, Japan legend Kaori Sakamoto got a fittingly triumphant send-off as the 2026 World Figure Skating Champion, followed by Mone Chiba and Belgium’s Nina Pinzarrone.
“It sucks. What else can I say. I lost focus,” Glenn told reporters after the Worlds. “Thanks for all the support and love to all my fans. Thanks to the whole audience for your support. That was very sweet.”
What went wrong for Amber Glenn at the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships
At the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Glenn got tripped up by a brutal mistake she made in the short program that sent her tumbling down the leaderboard to 13th place. Glenn was able to rebound with an impressive free skate but couldn’t overcome her low initial score and placed fifth overall.
This time in Prague, Glenn delivered a solid short program that placed her in third entering the free and in prime position to medal. Despite a strong start to her free skate in which she nailed a triple axel, she made several errors in her technique and execution (one of her triple combinations was under-rotated, and she couldn’t complete one of her jumps) that ended up costing her what would have been her first-ever Worlds medal.
Immediately after her final performance, Glenn was visibly disappointed and sat on the ice with her head hung low. Glenn scored 130.47 in her free skate, good for ninth among her competitors. She finished sixth overall with a total score of 203.12.
In light of her struggles, Glenn’s defiant message shows she’s still proud of what she’s achieved in her skating career, including being one of the few women to land a triple axel on the ice. The three-time U.S. champion received thunderous applause in Prague during her performances and has clearly won over the hearts of fans across the world, which should be considered a win in anyone’s book.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Amber Glenn Shares ‘Exhausted’ Message After Missing Podium Again at 2026 World Championships.
