MILAN — The night started with promise and hope for the U.S. women’s figure skating team.
The trio of ‘Blade Angels’ — close friends Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu and Isabeau Levito — had enchanted fans in the lead-up to the 2026 Winter Olympics with their camaraderie and determination to do things their own way.
They also represented the Americans’ best chance at ending a 20-year Olympic medal drought. But expectations shifted after the short program on Tuesday, Feb. 17.
Liu was the first American to take the ice, the opening skater in the fifth and final group. The reigning world champion turned in an exceptional program, one good enough to earn her a season-best score (76.59) and put her in third place.
One skater later, Levito turned in a clean routine, putting her in eighth place (70.84) and marking her Olympic debut in front of her mother’s hometown crowd.
But competing second to last of the 29 skaters, Glenn had a painful performance, one that had started with a strong triple axel, but unraveled two elements later when she bailed on a triple loop, resulting in zero points on an invalidated element and landing her in 13th place (67.39).
‘I don’t know what happened, I had it,’ Glenn, who was clearly distraught by her outing, could be heard saying in the Kiss-and-Cry.
“She’s gone through so much, and she works so freaking hard,’ Liu said of Glenn. ‘Genuinely, such a hard worker, and she’s overcome a lot, and I just want her to be happy, that’s genuinely all I want.’
Now, Liu stands alone as USA’s best chance at a medal. If she pulls it off, she would become the first American woman since Sasha Cohen took silver in 2006. But she has to overcome Japan’s Ami Nakai and Kaori Sakamoto, who are in first and second, respectively.
“It doesn’t change how I did,’ Liu said of her place in the standings. ‘I mean, I’d hope it doesn’t change how people view my performance, either.”
Alysa Liu’s short program
Alysa Liu is back on figure skating ice at the Winter Olympics, and she’s doing it her way, on the path to gold.
The 20-year-old delivered a beautiful short program from start to finish, highlighted by a pristine triple lutz + triple loop combination. By the time she was done with the program, her coaches were celebrating and she held her hands to her face, seemingly shocked by how well she did. The routine for Liu is an emotional one, set to the song ‘Promise’ by Laufey.
Liu scored a season-best 76.59, good enough for third place. It was a much cleaner showing than her short program in the team competition, when she scored a 74.90.
“It doesn’t change how I did,’ Liu said on being in third place. ‘I mean, I’d hope it doesn’t change how people view my performance, either.”
Amber Glenn’s short program
The 26-year-old opened her short program with an impressive triple axel that earned 10.06 points, about a third of a point higher than the only other triple axel executed on the night. (Japan’s Ami Nakai, who is in first place, landed one for 9.71 points).
But Glenn bailed on a triple loop two elements later, which invalidated it and resulted in a program score of 67.39, dropping her to 13th place. The three-time reigning U.S. champion knew it when she finished her routine at center ice and in the Kiss-and-Cry section awaiting her score. She grimaced. She put her left hand on her chest. She breathed heavily.
‘I don’t know what happened, I had it,’ she could be heard saying in the Kiss-and-Cry.
When her score was read out, she tried to keep it together, flashing a heart sign and double wave to the camera. But seconds later, she dropped her head in her hands and cried, her coach Damon Allen rubbing her back. She sat there the first few moments of Mone Chiba’s performance, distraught, before putting her skate guards on and walking off into the tunnel.
Isabeau Levito’s short program
In her mother’s hometown, Isabeau Levito made her Winter Olympics debut. The former U.S. champion finished her short program with a score of 70.84, putting her in eighth place entering the free skate. Levito’s performance included two songs: ‘Almost in Your Arms’ by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston and ‘zou bisou bisou’ by Bill Shepherd and Alan Tew.
Women’s short program figure skating results
Here are standings after the women’s short program.
Ami Nakai (Japan): 78.71 total segment score, 45.02 technical elements score, 33.69 program components score.
Kaori Sakamoto (Japan): 77.23 total segment score, 40.08 technical elements score, 37.15 program components score.
Alysa Liu (USA): 76.59 total segment score, 41.34 technical elements score, 35.25 program components score.
Mone Chiba (Japan): 67.39 total segment score, 34.19 technical elements score, 33.20 program components score.
Adeliia Petrosian (Neutral Athlete): 72.89 total segment score, 40.44 technical elements score, 32.45 program components score.
Anastasiia Gubanova (Georgia): 71.77 total segment score, 38.28 technical elements score, 33.49 program components score.
Loena Hendrickx (Belgium): 70.93 total segment score, 36.92 technical elements score, 34.01 program components score.
Isabeau Levito (USA): 70.84 total segment score, 36.77 technical elements score, 34.07 program components score.
Haein Lee (Korea): 70.07 total segment score, 37.61 technical elements score, 32.46 program components score.
Niina Petrokina (Estonia): 69.63 total segment score, 36.80 technical elements score, 32.83 program components score.
Nina Pinzarrone (Belgium): 68.97 total segment score, 36.86 technical elements score, 32.11 program components score.
Sofia Samodelkina (Kazakhstan): 68.47 total segment score, 36.42 technical elements score, 32.05 program components score.
Amber Glenn (USA): 67.39 total segment score, 34.19 technical elements score, 33.20 program components score.
Jia Shin (Korea): 65.66 total segment score, 35.79 technical elements score, 30.87 program components score.
Iida Karhunen (Finland): 65.06 total segment score, 36.22 technical elements score, 28.84 program components score.
Julia Sauter (Romania): 63.13 total segment score, 34.15 technical elements score, 28.98 program components score.
Olga Mikutina (Austria): 61.72 total segment score, 32.64 technical elements score, 29.08 program components score.
Lara Naki Gutmann (Italy): 61.56 total segment score, 29.50 technical elements score, 32.06 program components score.
Ekaterina Kurakova (Poland): 60.14 total segment score, 31.56 technical elements score, 28.58 program components score.
Ruiyang Zhang (China): 59.38 total segment score, 32.64 technical elements score, 26.74 program components score.
Kimmy Repond (Switzerland): 59.20 total segment score, 29.84 technical elements score, 29.36 program components score.
Mariia Seniuk (Israel): 58.61 total segment score, 32.15 technical elements score, 26.46 program components score.
Livia Kaiser (Switzerland): 55.69 total segment score, 30.62 technical elements score, 26.07 program components score.
Lorine Schild (France): 55.63 total segment score, 29.32 technical elements score, 26.31 program components score.
Madeline Schizas (Canada): 55.38 total segment score, 26.39 technical elements score, 28.99 program components score.
Viktoriia Safonova (Neutral Athlete): 54.57 total segment score, 29.15 technical elements score, 25.42 program components score.
Meda Variakojyte (Lithuania): 53.86 total segment score, 29.77 technical elements score, 24.09 program components score.
Alexandra Feigin (Bulgaria): 53.42 total segment score, 28.77 technical elements score, 24.65 program components score.
Kristen Spours (Great Britain): 45.54 total segment score, 21.55 technical elements score, 23.99 program components score.
Amber Glenn’s music
Glenn skated her short program to Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer.’
“Absolutely incredible,’ Glenn said of getting ready to skate to Madonna at the Games. ‘And I’ve already had a moment that I’ve never experienced in figure skating at nationals with this program. So I’m hoping today I can just really enjoy it for myself and everyone at home can enjoy it, too.”
AIN at Olympics? It’s not a country
Officially, Russia is banned from the Olympics because Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. At the 2026 Winter Games in Milano Cortina, there will be no Russian flags, no Russian anthems and no Russian national colors incoporated in the competition. (The same holds true for Belarus, which has supported Russia in the war.)
But there will be athletes with Russian and Belarussian passports competing as ‘Individual Neutral Athletes,’ or AINs for short, if they meet specific conditions. That contingent will include 13 Russians and seven Belarussians, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Jan. 29. Read the full explainer about AIN. — Josh Peter
Japan’s Ami Nakai comes out hot
The women’s competition feels like it’s going to come down to the Americans and the Japanese, and Ami Nakai took the first big swing. The 17-year-old started off with a clean triple Axel and only got better from there, putting up a strong performance to start the fourth of five groups. She got a score of 78.71, a season-best to put her in the lead.
Snoop Dogg at figure skating
His Winter Olympics tour continues.
How is figure skating scored?
A figure skating routine is made up of two scores: Technical elements score and program components score. The technical elements score is exactly what it sounds like: It’s for the jumps, spins and step sequences in a performance. The program components score is made of up composition, presentation and skating skills.
Figure skating Olympics winners list
Here is who has medaled in women’s singles figure skating over the last four decades.
2022: ROC’s Anna Shcherbakova (gold), ROC’s Aleksandra Trusova (silver), Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto (bronze)
2018: ROC’s Alina Zagitova (gold), ROC’s Yevgeniya Medvedeva (silver), Canada’s Kaetlyn Osmond (bronze)
2014: Russia’s Adelina Sotnikova (gold), Korea’s Yu-Na Kim (silver), Italy’s Carolina Kostner (bronze)
2010: Korea’s Yu-Na Kim (gold), Japan’s Mao Asada (silver), Canada’s Joannie Rochette (bronze)
2006: Japan’s Shizuka Arakawa (gold), USA’s Sasha Cohen (silver), Russia’s Irina Slutskaya (bronze)
2002: USA’s Sarah Hughes (gold), Russia’s Irina Slutskaya (silver), USA’s Michelle Kwan (bronze)
1998: USA’s Tara Lipinski (gold), USA’s Michelle Kwan (silver), China’s Chen Lu (bronze)
1994: Ukraine’s Oksana Baiul (gold), USA’s Nancy Kerrigan (silver), China’s Chen Lu (bronze)
1992: USA’s Kristi Yamaguchi (gold), Japan’s Midori Ito (silver), USA’s Nancy Kerrigan (bronze)
1988: East Germany’s Katarina Witt (gold), Canada’s Elizabeth Manley (silver), USA’s Debi Thomas (bronze)
1984: East Germany’s Katarina Witt (gold), USA’s Rosalynn Sumners (silver), USSR’s Kira Ivanova (bronze)
Blade Angels of USA figure skating
It’s time for the ‘Blade Angels’ of the United States of America to take the figure skating ice.
Some of the most popular Team USA athletes at the 2026 Winter Olympics − Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu and Isabeau Levito − open their pursuit for individual gold with women’s short program on Tuesday, Feb. 17. Not only are they some of the best skaters in the world, but they have also captivated the nation for their pure appreciation and love for each other, which features plenty of fun and chaos sprinkled in.
So what exactly is the story of the ‘Blade Angels’? It’s a friendship that has been building for years, and is flourishing in the Olympic spotlight.
Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu on their friendship
USA TODAY Sports’ Jordan Mendoza spoke to Amber Glenn and Alysa Liu on the tight friendship they have formed. Here’s what they said.
What Liu said about Glenn: “She’s just such a big sister to me. The idea that we compete against each other, it’s so weird to me. I really just see her as one of my friends and truly one of my teammates. I don’t know, doing things with her is really fun.”
When Glenn said about Liu: “It’s been great to have someone that has such a positive outlook on skating and on her career around me. And then on the flip side, I have an extra pair of tights if she rips them and doesn’t have a backup, or I have the schedule ready because she doesn’t have it.”
Figure skating jump types
Toe jump: A skater drives the toe pick of their non-takeoff foot into the ice to launch themselves into the air and generate momentum into the jump.
Toe loop: A skater takes off backward and lands on the same back edge of their blade.
Lutz: A skater moving backward jumps off the back outside edge of their skate and uses the toe-pick of their other skate to catapult into the air in the opposite direction and lands on the back outside edge of the picking leg.
Flip: A skater launches off the back inside edge of one skate and lands on the back outside edge of the other skate.
Edge jump: A skater takes off not with their toe pick but off the edge of their skate.
Salchow: A skater launches off the back inside edge of one skate and lands on the back outside edge of their other skate.
Axel: The only forward-facing jump, a skater lands on the back outside edge of their non-takeoff foot while traveling backward. The axel is the hardest jump because of the extra half-revolution that comes with a forward takeoff and a backward landing.
Loop: The skater jumps off a back outside edge of their skate and lands on the same edge.
Facts about figure skating
Athleticism meets grace in figure skating, one of the most popular sports at the Winter Olympics. Whether skaters are performing gravity-defying jumps or experiencing a wide array of emotions in the designated ‘Kiss and Cry’ area, figure skating has captivated Olympic audiences across the world for more than a century. The 2026 Milano Cortina Games will be no different.
Here’s everything you need to know about figure skating and how it works at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Get our Chasing Gold Olympics newsletter in your inbox for coverage of your favorite Team USA athletes
