Amber Glenn wins 3rd straight U.S. title, clinches 1st Olympic berth

Amber Glenn followed up a record-breaking short program Wednesday with a stellar free skate on Friday to clinch her third straight national championship and a spot on the 2026 Olympic team at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis, Mo.

Glenn finished with a score of 223.55, edging out Alysa Liu (228.91) and Isabeau Levito (224.45), who will fill the other two women's spots on the U.S. Olympic Team next month in the 2026 Milano Cortina Games.

It was a redemptive moment for Glenn, 26, who was forced to miss the 2022 U.S. Championships and the 2022 Beijing Olympics due to COVID-19.

"So grateful. That was terrifying. I had to skate after these two incredible ladies brought the house down," Glenn said on the broadcast after winning. " ... I'm still just mindblown."

Liu, 20, was the 2019 and 2020 national champion. She is the only one of the Italy-bound trio who has previously competed in the Olympics.

She finished sixth in Beijing before retiring from the sport at 16 and returning to become the first American to win the world championship since Kimmie Meissner in 2006 last year.

Levito, 18, won the 2023 national championship and finished in second place at 2024 Worlds.

Glenn (No. 3), Levito (No. 4) and Liu (No. 5) all rank in the top five of the ISA world rankings, giving the United States a legitimate shot at its first Olympic gold medal since Sarah Hughes in 2002.

Bradie Tennell (211.48) and Sarah Everhardt (209.47) rounded out the top five in the final standings.

In pairs, Alisha Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov comfortably won their second consecutive national championship with 207.71 points, over 10 ahead of second place.

However, their spot on the Olympic team remains uncertain due to Efimova's citizenship. She was born in Finland and also previously competed for Russia and Germany. Although the pair are married and she was approved for a green card, she won't be eligible to represent the American team in Italy unless she receives her passport by Sunday.

That puts quite a time crunch on the U.S. Figure Skating organization, which has been hard at work trying to get the pair, who are ninth in the ISU world rankings, eligible.

Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea (197.12) finished in second place and are expected to make the Olympic team regardless of how the eligibility situation plays out.

Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman (187.45) rallied from fifth place after the short program to finish in third place, but are also ineligible for the Olympics because he's not a U.S. citizen.

As such, it would become a judgment call for U.S. Figure Skating should the top pair not become eligible. Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe (186.52) were in eighth after the short program but used a strong free skate to jump into fourth in the final standings.

Audry Shin and Balazs Nagy (185.10) went the opposite way, falling from second after the short program to fifth in the final standings after Friday's competition.

The championships conclude on Saturday with free skates for the male competitors and ice dance teams. The 16-person U.S. team will be officially announced on Sunday.

--Field Level Media