WICHITA, Kansas – A year ago, when Amber Glenn won the national title but went on to finish an underwhelming 10th at the World Championships, her coach said in an interview that Glenn was still learning how to be a champion.
Glenn, who masks nothing of her emotions and frequent inner turmoil, appreciated coach Damon Allen’s honesty when she read the interview.
“Now I’ve kind of learned how to be a champion,” Glenn said.
In Friday’s free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Glenn showed the full resolve of one, fighting off back pain to rally from a disappointing third-place finish in the short program and win a second straight national title.
She is unbeaten in five competitions this season, winning the Grand Prix Final in the most recent before coming to nationals.
With 216.79 points, Glenn narrowly defeated short program winner Alysa Liu (215.33), whose stumble on the Biellmann layback spin that ended her free skate might have been enough to cost her a third title. Sarah Everhardt was third at 207.36, with another two-time champion, Bradie Tennell, in fourth at 199.94.
Glenn qualified her learning curve as “kind of” because of the way she approached Thursday’s short program, with more trepidation than champion’s swagger.
“I have been chasing Alysa and Bradie from kind of far behind since back in 2020, 2021,” Glenn said. “Coming in here, I kind of felt a timidness I didn’t have at the other events.
“I just looked at myself like, `Why am I doing that?’ So today I tried to attack everything.”
Glenn, 25, opened her free with a triple Axel of surpassing quality and appeared on her way to a thoroughly remarkable performance until she fell on her final jump, a triple loop. That led her to slap the ice in frustration when she finished skating.
“These two ladies had the skates of the night,” Glenn said, referring to Liu, 19, and Everhardt, 18. “I did have a good comeback today, and I did the triple Axel. My program does have a high difficulty, so that is definitely what put me ahead.
“But I still don’t believe I won. It’s weird to me.”
Glenn left the ice saying, “my back,” and holding both lands on her lower back area. She said the problem, which is centered on a rib, “is nothing that is an actual injury. It’s just painful.”
Liu’s return to nationals after a two-year retirement was a triumph, even if she wound up just short of the podium’s top step.
“It just feels crazy to me,” Liu said. “I didn’t have any expectations for myself, placement-wise. I felt really good throughout this entire experience.”
She beamed after finishing the free skate performance to Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park,” during which she lost several points for underrotated jumps. She was more visibly happy than she had been while winning national titles in 2019 and 2020, the first at age 13.
Liu joins Glenn and Isabeau Levito* on the U.S. women’s team for the World Championships in late March in Boston.
U.S. Figure Skating announced the team Saturday morning, but that selection came with an asterisk because reigning world silver medalist Levito had to skip nationals with a lingering foot injury.
Levito, the 2023 U.S. champion, successfully petitioned for a world team spot based on her past results. Levito will be monitored by USFS officials several times to judge her fitness. If she has recovered sufficiently to skate at worlds, Levito would be the first U.S. woman to compete at an Olympics or worlds without skating at nationals since Nancy Kerrigan at the 1994 Winter Olympics.
That would leave Everhardt on the bubble for the next six weeks or so.
“I did what I can,” Everhardt said. “I skated my best…well, no, I can skate a little bit better. Whatever happens, happens.”
Everhardt, who burst into the skating world’s consciousness by finishing a surprising fourth last year, was thrilled to be on a podium with people she had watched growing up.
“To sort of see that I’ve made it to this level, and I’m competitive with them, is an amazing feeling,” Everhardt said.
Philip Hersh, who has covered figure skating at the last 12 Winter Olympics, is a special contributor to NBCSports.com.
