The biggest disappointment was Amber Glenn, the reigning American national champion.
At 26, Glenn is the oldest American female figure skater in nearly a century to make her Olympic debut.
But after a strong start, Glenn missed her triple loop – it registered as an invalid element, thus scoring zero points and pushing her down to 13th.
She knows that will likely cost her a medal, and sobbed as she exited the rink.
Glenn, out as bisexual and a critic of US President Donald Trump, has faced an online backlash against her political and LGBTQ+ comments.
On Tuesday, Glenn, who has battled depression, posted to Instagram: “The world has ended for me many times, and yet tomorrow still comes. Keep going.”
If she produces her best in the free skate, she could shake up the medal race.
Then there is Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN) Adeliia Petrosian.
So far, none of the AIN representatives – from countries banned from the 2026 Olympics – have won a medal.
The most likely candidate is 18-year-old Petrosian, the Russian national champion.
She is under the tutelage of controversial Eteri Tutberidze, who is not officially listed as a coach – but the teenager is accompanied by Daniil Gleikhengauz, with whom Tutberidze has worked closely.
Petrosian, who has not been able to compete internationally because of the ISU ban on Russian athletes, set a season-best short program score of 72.89 putting her in fifth going into the free skate. She led the leaderboard for nearly three hours until Nakai stepped up.
It sets up a grandstand finish to figure skating at Milan-Cortina 2026. Don’t miss it.
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