Amber Glenn Displays Grace; Eyes Medal at World Championships
Amber Glenn landed the triple Axel in the short program at the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague. She was the only woman to complete the jump cleanly in that session.
Short program and the triple Axel
Glenn opened her program with the high-value triple Axel. She had struggled in warm-ups, failing two of three attempts before the short.
Despite leaning on the takeoff, she recovered and stuck the jump. The Axel received a mildly negative grade of execution. A following combination received a larger penalty for underrotation.
Scores and standings going into the free skate
Glenn scored 72.65 points in the short. That placed her third heading into Friday’s free skate.
| Rank | Skater | Country | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kaori Sakamoto | Japan | 79.31 |
| 2 | Mone Chiba | Japan | 78.45 |
| 3 | Amber Glenn | USA | 72.65 |
| 4 | Isabeau Levito | USA | 72.16 |
Season context and technical consistency
This season, Glenn had landed 12 of 13 triple Axel attempts before worlds. She earned positive GOEs on most of those attempts.
Among the 33 women at Worlds, only one other skater attempted the Axel. Japan’s Ami Nakai tried it, but she completed only a double.
Past championships and redemption
Glenn has battled setbacks in big events. At the Olympics she was 13th after the short program.
She rebounded there with the third-best free skate. She finished fifth overall, just four points shy of a medal.
At the 2025 Worlds she was ninth after the short. She climbed to fourth in the free and again placed fifth overall.
Off-ice life and advocacy
Glenn, 26, presented at the 37th GLAAD Media Awards after the Olympics. She limited celebrations to keep focus on Worlds.
She publicly came out as pansexual in December 2019. Glenn now partners with Kotex on menstrual-health advocacy.
She also speaks openly about mental health and issues affecting female athletes.
Sportsmanship and rivalries
Glenn drew praise for shielding Kaori Sakamoto from intrusive cameras at the Olympics. Sakamoto later expressed gratitude for that gesture.
The two have competed against one another since a 2013 Junior Grand Prix event in Ostrava. This championships will mark Sakamoto’s last competition before retirement.
Broadcast and wider field notes
The World Figure Skating Championships air live on Peacock Wednesday through Saturday. The free skate airs Friday on Peacock.
Olympic champion Alysa Liu did not defend her world title. Ilia Malinin is attempting a three-peat at these Worlds on NBC Sports and Peacock.
Amber Glenn displays grace in Prague and clearly eyes a medal as the competition moves to the free skate. Filmogaz.com will follow her progress.
