The 2026 Olympics Women’s Short Figure Skating on February 18th saw some of the most intense and fun figure skating to date. It was highlighted by the American ‘golden trio’: Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu, and Isabeau Levito—three women who faced challenges to make it onto this Olympic stage. 

Skating off Track 

Alysa Liu scored a season best 76.49 in the Women’s short on the 18th, good enough for third place. The reigning world champion went into the 2026 Winter Olympics favored to do well, but there was a point in her life when she thought she’d never make it back to the Olympic ice. 

At 16, Liu was considered one of the best figure skaters in the world. She represented the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, but shortly after receiving a bronze medal for her country, she announced her retirement from the sport. 

“I felt really trapped,” Liu explained. “And the only way to break out was to leave the sport”. 

Figure skating is often a sport where accomplishments come young, but Liu didn’t want to be encompassed by the nonstop routine of training, skating, and training again. She wanted to be a normal teenager. 

And when she was ready to return, she did it on her own terms. 

Returning to a sport after a three year break is a difficult task, but Liu made it look easy. She trained with the same coaches, went through the same processes, but this time, she made it clear that it was on her terms. Costumes were her own design, music was her choice, and she determined when to step on the ice.

Freeing herself from the cage was the right idea. She’s been exceptional in the 2026 Olympics so far. 

Liu and her close friends Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito went into the games heavy favorites to win a medal for the United States, but without time off to reflect and remember who she is and what skating means to her, Liu never would have gotten there. 

Pressure and Privilege 

If there’s anyone that can talk about pressure, it’s Amber Glenn. 

Coming into the 2026 Games, Glenn was already a favorite for a gold medal. For the United States, this was a chance to win their first medal in women’s figure skating in 20 years.

A whole country was tuning into Glenn’s performance on Tuesday. 

And sometimes, that insurmountable pressure to perform gets the best of us. 

In the same Women’s Short that saw Liu receive third, Glenn was not as fortunate. In the final moments of her performance, she landed a double loop instead of a triple, and subsequently had the move ruled ‘invalid’ to receive a zero. This dropped her score down to 67.39; almost a full 10 points behind first place Ami Nakai. 

“I almost had it,” she said to head coach Damon Allen after skating off with tears in her eyes. And indeed, she did. Her routine was almost perfect, but as Alysa Liu knows well, figure skating is an unforgiving sport. 

Glenn will get the chance to redeem herself at the free skate on February 19th, but she knows that despite her performance, there is more to life than your performance in one event. Glenn reposted on her Instagram story a post stating “The world has ended for me many times and yet tomorrow still comes. Keep going.”

Consistency is Key

While Isabeau Levito didn’t try to complete any extreme moves on Tuesday, her performance still earned her 8th place for the consistency she has displayed throughout the 2026 Winter games. 

The strategy contrasts Amber Glenn’s, but for Levito, it paid off. Earning base points that are solid kept her above many of her competitors, and eliminated the possibility of a devastating error like Glenn’s. 

The 18-year-old was competing in her first Olympics, and, like her fellow Americans, she felt intense pressure to bring home a medal for the United States. Unlike her competitors, however, Levito also had her own internal pressure: Milano Cortina is her mother’s home, and therefore, most of her family were there or following along on the TV. 

“I haven’t gotten [my family] on the phone yet,” Levito said after her performance on Tuesday. “But I know they must have loved that and [they’re] happy for me.” 

Finishing 8th among the top skaters in the world when you’re merely 18 isn’t bad at all. Her family will be happy indeed.

Moving On 

Levito, Glenn, and Liu will all get a chance to make their final mark in the 2026 Olympics in the figure skating finals on February 19th. Each of them have faced their own battles to get there, and no matter the final standings, should be proud of their accomplishments.

Figure skating is a sport that puts pressure on athletes, each and every competition. But these three women have proved that weathering the storm can help you find the joy in competition again. After all, don’t they say that pressure makes diamonds?