Only a few days after arriving at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano, Italy, U.S. champion Amber Glenn found herself the center of controversy. It started at a press conference on February 6, when Glenn spoke in support of the U.S. LGBTQ community, of which she is a member.

“It’s been a hard time for the community overall under this administration,” said Glenn, who identifies as pansexual. “It isn’t the first time that we’ve had to come together as a community to fight for our human rights. And now, especially, it’s not affecting just the queer community, but many other communities.”  

This brief statement turned into an unexpected lightning rod in the polarized social media world, and, in response, Glenn got targeted with online threats, nasty messages, and angry posts. Nor was that the end of the controversy Glenn faced at the Olympics. A brief uproar followed over the rights to a piece of music she was using. Later, many of the same social media accounts that criticized her LGBTQ comments flared up with fresh abuse after Glenn singled a planned triple loop in the individual short program. 

It was all a bit of a circus. Here Glenn was, competing at the biggest event of her career, but online talk about her identity and political views threatened to overshadow her considerable athletic accomplishments. Many skaters would have wilted under such pressure, but Glenn held strong.

“I know that a lot of people say, ‘You’re just an athlete, stick to your job. Shut up about politics,’” she said in Milano. “But politics affect us all. It is something that I will not just be quiet about, because it is something that affects us in our everyday lives.”

It’s precisely this conviction and courage that have made Glenn such an admired figure–even a hero–to many in the figure skating community. In a world where many athletes (and many people, in general) hesitate to speak their minds due to legitimate fear of online backlash, Glenn does not shrink.

After the negative attention at the Olympics, it wouldn’t have been surprising if Glenn decided to step back from controversial topics for a while. However, although she’s aware of the risks, the three-time U.S. champion was as candid as ever when she met with a group of reporters following the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships. At 26, Glenn has had more experience, and time to grapple, with deeper issues affecting sport than many of her competitors. In Prague, she freely shared her thoughts.

On her Olympic season

Q:  Amber, how did this season go for you?

Glenn:  It’s been a lot. Definitely some ups and downs. Overall, I accomplished a lot. I think, at the end, it was 12 triple Axels done. I did each of my programs cleanly [during the season]. And I went to the Olympics. So overall, it was a very successful season. But of course, I wanted more out of it.

Q:  How did you feel in Prague, physically and mentally?

Glenn:  The fan support was incredible. I was so thrilled with that. But I felt a little out of it, to be honest, especially in the free skate. In the short [program], I was able to stay pretty focused, in the moment, and really attack things. But that’s a lot shorter of a time to be out there. Whereas in the free skate, I feel like I got lost halfway through. I was trying so hard to stay calm. Because that’s usually been my issue, is trying to stay relaxed. And I just lost my focus.

Q:  Before 1992, skaters tended to do everything [all competitions]. Now, a lot of skaters–especially if they get medals at the Olympics–skip Worlds. And we noticed that a lot of the top skaters looked very tired [in Prague]. Is the pressure higher because of social media?

Glenn:  I don’t think it’s pressure, necessarily. There wasn’t, like, a weight on me. It felt more–tired. Because there’s more attention [after the Olympics]. You’re constantly on. You’re being recognized, photographed, talked about constantly. You’re having to keep up with career opportunities. This is the time to capitalize and, like, set up the rest of your life, especially if this is the only Olympics you’re going to. Now’s the time to go. And it’s really hard to balance that and prepare for a competition [Worlds].

And I guarantee you, at least 70 percent of us got deathly ill after the Olympics, because our adrenaline was so high, and we were being so careful. Then afterward, everything drops, and our immune systems are just shocked. So we might be physically ready [for Worlds], because a lot of us were in the best shape of our lives at the Olympics. But the mental and physical and emotional energy drop is intense. You’re expected to keep going, and there’s not quite enough time to really come all the way down and build back up. But you can’t just stay and maintain it, or else you’re going to fall apart. 

Kaori [Sakamoto] said she took ten days off [after the Olympics]. That’s great. I should have done that. I took like two or three [days]. Even though I was feeling sick, I felt a responsibility, like: ‘I need to get back in the rink. I need to get training.’ And that came from my insecurity, of needing to push, push, push, instead of trusting,  ‘Hey, I’m ready now, I’ll be okay.’ So  it was hard to manage the time and the afterthought of what comes next. Because all the eyes in the world that I’m going to get–the most attention I’m ever going to get–is right now. Right at the Olympics and right after. What do I do with this? How can I set myself up for life? That’s a big thing to carry while getting ready for a competition.

Q:  How much time in the rink did you actually have between the Olympics and Worlds? Alysa Liu said she wanted to do Worlds, but then she realized she just didn’t have the time to get back into the rink. Was there any part of you that went, Should I really be doing Worlds?

Glenn:  I had no doubt, because I knew that I wanted to do my short [program]. I was like: ‘I need to go do that damn triple loop in my short program.’ That is why I came to Prague. And I did it. So, mission accomplished. I wish I could have done another loop. [Laughs ruefully, in reference to popping a triple loop in her free skate in Prague.] I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to stop thinking about it until I did it. It was just replaying in my mind, over and over again. So I knew I needed to do this. 

But I had to turn down so many career opportunities. Like, ‘Oh, I could make this money, or I could be on this public stage, or I could attend this premiere. But, I need to be responsible and train for Worlds.’ So there was that pull in each way. But it’s not something that I’m like: ‘Oh my gosh, poor me.’ I’m so grateful that I have, and hopefully will continue to have, opportunities like this, because of the Olympics. But it was something that I hadn’t had to manage before, because I hadn’t been to the Olympics before. So it was very different.

Too much attention?

Q:  In every Olympic year–and especially this one, because Alysa Liu won–you get this surge in interest in the sport, and also a surge in media coverage. A side effect is that social media interest goes up. You spoke about the [negative] messages you received at the Olympics. What’s your take on the whole balance of this–when you want the interest in the sport, but it becomes a free-for-all?

Glenn:  It’s been so interesting to experience firsthand, and then see, especially when it comes to Alysa, because she, like, skyrocketed. I’ve said that she is the quintessential cool girl. If anyone could win–in a way to get popular–it would be her. Because she’s 20, she has cool hair, she has piercings, she’s alternative, she did it in a fun, happy way. And it’s something that draws [people]. She has an allure to her. I think that is definitely something that boosted skating to an outside audience. 

If it had been Kaori [Sakamoto]–who, I think, a lot of us did expect to win–it would have been a lot of admiration from inside the skating community, because we all have known her and have so much respect for what she’s done in the sport. It would have been incredible. But I don’t think it would have shot up as much. Because it would have been something expected, if that makes sense. Kaori’s story is of an incredible athlete, who has dominated for years … versus Alysa: She took off two years, retired, came back on her own terms. It’s very dramatic, and it made for this perfect story, and that’s why it’s gone up like it has. You could write a book, or a movie [like that]. So with that, came a lot of social media attention. 

In 2022, we were in a Covid [Olympic] Games, and it was different. This was the first Winter Games that I think we had this much attention. For me, it came with a lot of misinformation. We’re also in the age of deep fakes, AI, fake headlines, all that kind of stuff spewing out of control. We, as athletes, couldn’t always control the narrative of what is true and untrue. So things kind of spiraled out of control. It was definitely hard, because there are so many people now who have seen headlines of quotes that I never said, and that’s how they know me.

But there’s also so many people who have now seen my story and connected with it and have gotten positive affirmation from it. So it’s a double-edged sword.

Making figure skating safer

Q:  Recently, Alysa Liu was asked about the effect she might have on figure skating. And Alysa said she wasn’t sure if she really wants skating to be more popular. Because she feels that a lot of skaters have had toxic or traumatic experiences as  competitors. How do you feel about that?

Glenn:  That is something near and dear to my heart. Because I experienced–well, a lot of us experienced–a similar type of coaching and environment back in the early 2010s era. A lot of the things Alysa talked about, I was like, ‘Yep, my coach did that. Yep, my coach did that.’ It was expected. And it wasn’t okay. That’s why we have things like SafeSport and  rules in place. I think, just like [in] gymnastics, there are going to be bad eggs, and it’s unfortunate.

But we’re definitely taking steps to make it a safer place for young athletes. That is what I want to do in my skating career, and past my competitive career, is work on ways to make skating safe for young kids. Because I truly love it, and I wouldn’t give up skating [in order] to not have those bad experiences, but I wish I could have avoided them. I wish there could have been someone to say, ‘That’s not okay.’ Or [for] there to be rules in place to avoid situations like that. 

I think U.S. Figure Skating and the ISU are definitely taking steps toward that. But we have a very long way to go before I can comfortably say, ‘Oh, I’d love to get your child into figure skating.’ I want to be able to say that, without feeling like I might be telling them to put them into an unsafe place. I do feel like we are working toward that goal. But I can see where Alysa would have a little bit of fear of wanting more people [to be] involved in something that we have experienced some trauma from.

Gender issues in figure skating

Q:  At the Olympics, you mentioned competing while on your period. How do you feel about the challenge female athletes face in speaking openly about their menstrual cycle?

Glenn:  It’s so funny, because it was something I made a small mention of on social media. It wasn’t something I was being extremely vulgar about. But so many people related to it [as an issue] that it took on [became] a big story. When, in reality, it should be able to just be a passing comment, and move on. But, because people don’t speak about it, it was like, ‘Oh, my gosh!’ And it turned into something bigger. 

It’s important that we are able to speak about these things and make it normalized. Because growing up in sports, we didn’t really talk about it. You just had to figure it out on your own. And that’s hard, as a teenager. That’s really hard, and you have to manage things, and sometimes people don’t figure it out. I’ll give advice to people that are almost my age about how to manage having your menstrual cycle while competing. And they went so many years without this knowledge. In women’s sports, there’s so much about period health that we don’t talk about. Some athletes don’t get [their period], or they’ll train so hard that they’ll lose it. And there’s not a lot being brought up about period health, so we can be healthy and maintain a good lifestyle outside of the sport.

Q:  Gabriella Papadakis, the 2022 Olympic ice dance champion, talked about a related issue in her book. She revealed that she had a miscarriage, and basically nobody knew. In many ways, figure skating is defined by [traditional] binary-ism. How do you feel about this, and what direction would you like to see this go in the future?

Glenn:  I think that we’re slowly making some changes. There’s been a lot of attention brought to scoring men versus women. Women are expected to be a certain way in their skating. It’s expected for a woman to be fluid and graceful. Those are the basics of our sport. It comes from dance, from ballet. There’s so many basic things that we are taught, as women, to do, and that’s expected. When a man does it, it’s praised [effusively], like, “Oh my God!’ But if women do exactly what a man does, in that kind of way, they are deducted for it, rather than praised for it. I want to go out there and do the fun tricks and the more aggressive, gymnastics-like stuff. But when I do it, and if I land too heavy, then it’s looked at as unfeminine and not graceful. And I can get deducted for it. Versus men, where it’s like, ‘It’s so cool, it’s a revolution in the sport!’

Q:  So is it like the negative reaction to Surya Bonaly’s backflips in the 1990s?

Glenn:  Yes. It’s just sexist, and it sucks. But I think we’re making steps toward being able to reward skaters on their individual styles, rather than just expecting one type of skater, and one type of skating. I think we’re definitely seeing an improvement. But we still have a way to go.

Q:  Along these lines, NBC dropped Gabriella Papadakis as a figure skating commentator after she spoke out about abuses, and accused her former partner [Guillaume Cizeron] of being controlling. In this sport, it seems women who don’t conform are not really accepted. How do you feel about that?

Glenn:  With Papadakis, that’s a whole legal issue that people used to their advantage, which is unfortunate. There are certain laws that are really hard to figure out when it comes to [free] speech. It’s sad that someone’s story can be silenced because of career obligations. But that is the world we’re in, unfortunately. It’s just another way to keep people silent. It’s hard, and it’s upsetting. But speaking out is how we’re going to make change, and how we’re going to move forward. So I commend her for that. It is hard to see negative backlash to people, and to women, who are trying to find their way in sport, while being themselves. But I think all of us are coming together to support each other and make it better for the new generation. I wish it could have started earlier, but we’re making our mark now to try and improve it for the future.

New IOC policy affects transgender athletes

Q:  Did you see the IOC’s new policy that requires genetic testing for athletes competing in women’s Olympic sports?

Glenn:  They’re doing what?

Q:  Genetic testing. A cheek swab. 

Glenn:  Wow. I heard about something being announced, but I didn’t know we were going that far. Wow. That is … [Silent for a moment.] That’s very intense. It’s interesting, because there are so many athletes that have genetic advantages. Like, there’s Michael Phelps, who is just built different. He has the lactic acid thing, this big wingspan. There are people in this world that are born different, and that shouldn’t keep them from being able to participate in sports. I’ll have to read up on all of it. I’m not sure what exactly they’re trying to enforce. Because I feel like more damage has been done from keeping athletes from being able to compete, versus allowing athletes to compete, if that makes sense. 

Q:  You’ve obviously spoken out about LGBTQ and gender issues in the past. What will that advocacy look like for you going forward, especially with your increased platform since the Olympics?

Glenn:  I’ll definitely have to read up and see what they’re doing. I think we’re starting to get to a dangerous place of … what’s next. How far are we going to really take this? Because this is supposed to be about unity and sports. I understand that sports are sports, but to tell someone who they are and aren’t is very damaging. And that is something that goes beyond sports. I think the first transgender athlete in the Winter Games competed in Milan [Swedish moguls skiier Elis Lundholm]. I know Timothy Leduc was the first nonbinary [Winter Olympian], but this was the first, I think, openly trans Winter Olympian. And it’s not something that was exploding in controversy, and ruined the Olympic Games, or disrupted the whole thing. So why are we? … We’re doing more damage than positive, in my opinion.

The Russian ban

Q:  On another issue, how do you feel about the continued exclusion of Russian athletes from international competition–not due to doping, but due to the war in Ukraine? Do you think it’s fair?

Glenn:  It’s so deeply complicated. I know people have their own opinions on, well, if Russia’s banned, then the U.S. and Israel and Iran should all be banned, because they’re in wars. I understand that sentiment.

It’s hard, because a lot of these Russian athletes–it’s not their fault. They didn’t start it [the war]. But unfortunately, they’re connected through their federation. Their federation is connected to, and sponsored by, the Russian government. So there are direct ties. Whereas U.S. Figure Skating is its own entity. It does not receive government funding. So that is where things get muddy and complicated. I feel bad for those [skaters] who are there [in Russia], and don’t have any ties, and don’t support the war. It’s heartbreaking, and I hope they can find satisfaction in their own skating…. I can’t imagine how hard that must be. 

But it is something that makes sense, because it is bigger than sports. Until we can get to a place where people are not fighting to keep their own country [Ukraine]. In Russia, they are actively trying to expand their territory. I don’t know exactly where something starts off– like, okay, you’re banned. And, like, this [other] kind of war is okay. I don’t know where that line is. But there are experts who do, and they’re the ones who make the decisions. I think we have to rely on that. 

If I could control it, it would be like: ‘Everyone stop. We’re going to be at peace, and we’re all just going to compete.’ That’s what I wish we could do. Unfortunately, there are things going on in the world that are atrocities and are costing human lives. That keeps us from being able to skate together. We’ll see what happens from here.