Amber Glenn is a two-time U.S. national and reigning champion. After a Grand Prix Final title in 2024 and numerous podium placements over the last two seasons, the Plano, Texas native is considered a shoo-in for the U.S. Olympic team in February. 

But she’s the first to acknowledge her rise to figure skating stardom has been a slow one, and at age 26, as she heads into the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, she finally is ready to focus on enjoying the moments that likely will be the pinnacle of her career.

“I've been so focused on proving that I have what it takes to be consistent – and I have – I haven't scored under 200 in two years,” Glenn said. “I'm in a good place mentally. I'm in a good place physically. I just want to go out there and really take it all in at nationals.”

That hasn’t always been the case for the figure skater who has been open about her struggles with mental health. While always capable – Glenn is one of the only U.S. women to regularly land a triple Axel in competition – she is the first to admit she has been her own worst enemy.

After coming back from a mental health crisis in her teens, Glenn has worked with therapists and sports psychologists, implementing talk therapy, visualization and neurotherapy to stabilize her ADHD, depression and anxiety.

“I'm still just trying my best to live every day with the healthiest mindset that I can while trying to be an Olympic level athlete. And that's not always easy,” Glenn said. 

But she also advocates for allowing space for the normal ups and downs of sport – cautioning it’s important not to attribute every failure, every misstep to that struggle. “Sometimes I just rushed that jump, that time. Just because I speak out about my mental health doesn't mean that's what caused every single mistake I make,” she said.

The 2025-26 season has had its ups and downs for Glenn. After taking gold and silver in her Grand Prix events last fall, she landed just off the podium in 4th at the Grand Prix Final – an event she won the year before – after failing to cleanly complete a planned triple Axel in her short program. 

This would have undone Glenn in years past, but now, as frustrated as she was by the error, she is able to take things more calmly, with a perspective bestowed by years spent evolving in her technical yet aesthetically-driven sport.

Now, with just a month from the start of the Olympic Games in Milan Cortina, Glenn is excited for a nationals where the U.S. Olympic team will be named. "An Olympic nationals is unlike anything else. It is electric," she said.

While focus will be on the deep field of athletes vying for Olympic berths in St. Louis, Glenn had advice for those reaching for career bests as she once was: Try to enjoy every moment.

“I don't remember what jumps I messed up in 2018,” she said. “But I remember a certain moment where I did a big swizzle and took a deep breath in and gave a fierce look. I remember how that felt. And that was a great feeling.”

It will be a defining time as Glenn defends her national title against the rising star of a returned Alysa Liu, who took the skating world by storm last season, winning the world championship title after two years away from the sport. 

No matter the results, Glenn, who as a child never imagined she would be a national champion or make it to an Olympic Games, feels she is where she wants to be. In practice, she is landing clean triple Axels and performing at the top of her game.

“I want to go out and have two performances that I enjoy and that I'm proud of,” Glenn said. “And I know if I do my job, then I will more than likely end up being in Milan. And that is more than I ever thought I could ever accomplish.”