Not even the best wishes from pop icon Madonna could help: Amber Glenn, 26, from the United States, broke down in tears after a botched short program and now has little chance of earning a figure skating medal at the Winter Olympics in Italy, finishing 13th. The pansexual co-favorite made a costly error on the planned triple loop. The element was not counted. The deficit to bronze before the free skate on Thursday (7 p.m.) was almost ten points.
Glenn is one of the most colorful personalities of these Games — also because of her moving past. Due to depression and anxiety she had to be hospitalized as a teenager. One reason, she says, was also the toxic culture of comparison in figure skating.
She also struggled with an eating disorder. “I thought I wasn’t getting anywhere, and I slipped into a severe depression in which I no longer wanted to live — I didn’t want to do anything,” Glenn said in a major profile in Time magazine about that difficult period.
In 2019 she publicly disclosed that she is bisexual as well as pansexual.
Video message from Madonna: “Go get this gold”
Just before the Olympic short program, Glenn received a video message from Madonna, to whose song “Like a Prayer” she was skating. “I just watched you dancing to my song ‘Like a Prayer,’ and I must say I was absolutely overwhelmed,” the pop icon told the skater. “I can’t imagine that you won’t win, so I simply want to wish you good luck. Go get this gold!” But that dream is already over.
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Japanese lead — world champion Liu in hot pursuit
Leading after the short program is Japanese skater Ami Nakai (78.71 points) ahead of her teammate Kaori Sakamoto (77.23 points). In a chase for third place sits the US world champion Alysa Liu (76.59 points).
Among the cheering spectators were several American stars, including skating wunderkind Ilia Malinin, rapper Snoop Dogg, and actress-singer Halle Bailey (“The Little Mermaid”).
