‘Utter shock’: Amber Glenn wins US figure skating title after Levito falls three times

Amber Glenn thought she had blown her chances of winning her long-sought U.S. figure skating title when the 24-year-old from Texas, after landing a dramatic opening triple axel Friday night, fell apart in the second half of her program.

Then she saw Isabeau Levito collapse right behind her.

The defending champion fell three times during her own free skate, drawing an audible gasp from a rapt crowd in Columbus, Ohio. And when Levito’s score was read, Glenn’s tears of fear turned to tears of joy. Her score of 210.46 points was enough to crown her the nation’s best for the first time, a full decade after her reign as U.S. Junior champion.

“I mean, total shock,” Glenn said. “It was definitely not the performance I would have liked to have tonight, and I know that both Isabeau and I are capable of so much more. But it’s just the shock that all my hard work has paid off.”

Levito finished with 200.68 points, dropping to third place behind Josephine Lee, whose winning free skate earned her the silver medal.

In the men’s event earlier Friday, Ilia Malinin made one of the toughest combinations in speed skating look easy and was rewarded with 108.57 points, giving him the largest lead after a short program under the current scoring system in national history.

The 19-year-old Grand Prix Final champion performed his Malagueña program, opening with an effortless quad-toe loop and then landing the quad lutz-triple toe combo before making a triple axel look like a jump across the ice. When Malinin heard his scores, he showed off a black-and-gold towel that read “Quad God” – his all-too-apt nickname.

“I was definitely relieved after the performance, especially after some boat failures in recent weeks,” said Malinin, who returned to an old pair this week. “I was very grateful to be able to get out there.”

The national championships continue on Saturday with the couples free skating and the free dance.

Defending US champion Malinin is the only skater in the world to land a quad axel during a competition. He didn’t have the four-and-a-half rotation jump on his planned free skate for Sunday, but there’s always a chance he’ll pull it out.

“I’ll have to see how I feel mentally and physically,” Malinin said. “I think it will all depend on how I feel and I think what my position is, or how I feel about going into freedom.”

Max Naumov, the 2020 junior national champion, was a distant but surprising second after his opening quad salchow made up for a problem with his triple axel. He achieved 89.72 points in his quest for a podium finish after finishing fourth last year.

As usual, Jason Brown brought the house down at Nationwide Arena despite falling on his opening triple axel. The 29-year-old fan favorite, who skipped most of the season to stay healthy and prepare for the national championships, recovered to land a triple flip and triple lutz-triple toe combo while doing his usual flair skated to Adios by British composer Benjamin Clementine.

Brown scored 89.02 points as he aims to become the oldest man on the podium since Todd Eldredge won in 2002.

“It’s crazy that the people I competed against are coaching people at this event,” Brown said. “That amazes me, and the level of skating continues to rise year after year, and I think that’s incredible.”

Unbelievable is an apt way to describe what happened in the women’s free skate.

Glenn, who was less than half a point behind Levito after their short programs, landed a huge triple axel to open her program, a leap that very few women are willing to attempt. She followed with triple flip-triple toe and triple loop-double toe combinations, and a triple salchow, all of which seemed to set her off on her way to a national title.

As if on cue, the late program mistakes that have held Glenn back for years resurfaced. She shortchanged a jump sequence by only doing a double lutz and finished with a single somersault, and those two mistakes cost her a ton of points.

“I saw my choreographer and said, ‘I’m so sorry,’” Glenn said later. “I haven’t done for a long time in this program what she had done for me.”

Glenn watched from the ice as Levito fell on her opening triple lutz-triple toe combination, then seemed to get back on track by nailing her next three jumping passes. But then came a fall on her triple flip, and another on her triple loop, and by the time she turned to her end in the middle of the ice, Levito buried her face in her hands and fought back tears.

When the scores were read, Levito remained in third place and Glenn had replaced her as United States Champion.

“I know I have so much more in me,” Glenn said. “Ten years ago I won juniors (national), and the world of expectations was placed on me, and it crushed me. And now that I come back 10 years later and have this, it’s incredible.”