Amber Glenn won her first U.S. figure skating title on Friday night when defending champion Isabeau Levito fell three times during her own free skate.
That dropped the 16-year-old to third place and allowed Glenn to win the gold medal after mistakes in her own program. Glenn finished with a score of 210.46, while Josephine Lee jumped into second place and Levito was third.
Glenn identifies as the first openly Queer woman to win a U.S. Figure Skating Title and could not be more proud of the moment. After years of competition, the emotion of winning finally was truly an emotional and surreal moment for the athlete.
“Yeah, I mean, it is so bittersweet having been through what I have over the last like ten years. I think as a senior, figure skating we usually have very young champions. So to be in my mid-twenties and to have my first national championship win and being very open about my roller coaster of a ride of a career the amount of people that have said I’ve inspired them has made this so much more special,” Glenn said upon her return to Colorado Springs Monday.