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ST. LOUIS — It has been 20 years since an American woman has won an Olympic figure skating medal, but if the stellar performances in the women’s short program Wednesday night at the U.S. figure skating championships are any indication of what’s to come at the 2026 Winter Olympics, that drought is about to end.
One after another, five U.S. women skated consecutive flawless programs, finishing with a majestic skate by two-time defending national champion Amber Glenn. Glenn, who at 26 is trying to qualify for her first Olympic team, landed one of the most scintillating triple axels ever by a woman on her way to a new U.S. short-program record score, 83.05 points.
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See the emotions: Figure skaters compete to represent the US
Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman perform in the pairs short program during the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships at Enterprise Center on Jan. 7, 2026 in St. Louis, Mo.
She broke the previous record of 81.11 — set all of 10 minutes earlier by Alysa Liu, 20, the reigning world champion.
Between the two was another strong performance, this one by Isabeau Levito, 18, who finished third with 75.72 points.
“Of course I feel ecstatic,” Glenn said. “The score was huge.”
“I feel over the moon right now,” Liu said.
There still is a long program to be skated Friday night, but for this evening, the prospects for U.S. women’s skating looked very bright indeed.
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Alysa Liu, world champion figure skater and 2026 Olympics hopeful
Alysa Liu performs during the Exhibition Program at the World Figure Skating Championships at the TD Garden on Mar. 30, 2025 in Boston.
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu put up record-breaking scores at US championships
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