The 2026 U.S, National Figure Skating Championships is now on the books … and its definitely one for the history books, too!
The Women’s Free Skate competition on Friday night, Jan. 9, brought the record audience at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis to its feet not once … not twice … but five times in a row! The final five skaters were unstoppable as, one after another, they each bested the previous competitor, whipping the ecstatic crowd into veritable frenzy.
And when the final scores were tallied, Amber Glenn, Plano’s out queer daughter, could not be caught, completing a nearly impossible three-peat by winning her third consecutive national title.
That’s a feat no one has managed to accomplish since Michelle Kwan ended her streak of eight straight victories in 2005.
This year’s final five women is thought to be the strongest and most electric group in distant memory. Following Glenn, was silver medalist Alysa Liu, with Isabeau Levito capturing the bronze.
The entire competition was thrilling and exhilarating and an unqualified success, selling 93,000 tickets. It was a massive triumph for U.S. Figure Skating, the national governing body for the sport, and for the city of St. Louis.
Then the men took to the ice on Saturday night with “Quad God” Ilia Malinin burning down the house. His free skate performance earned him 209.78 points, bringing his championship-winning score to 324.88 — a whopping 57.26 points ahead of second-place Andrew Torgashev and 75.72 points ahead of third-place Maxim Naumov.
Malinin, who’s been breaking in new skates, did three quad jumps in his free skate — what he called playing it safe.
But today (Sunday, Jan. 11) came the heart-stopping, history-making moment of truth: Who would be named to the 2026 Olympic Games in Milano Cortina, Italy?
The team was announced in a special event presented live on NBC. So, whose dreams are taking them to Italy?
Here it is:
Women
Amber Glenn
Alysa Liu
Isabeau Levito
Men
Ilia Malinin
Maxim Naumov
Andrew Torgashev
Ice Dance
Madison Chock and Evan Bates
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik
Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko
Pairs
Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, the U.S. silver medalists,
Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe
So with everything said and done, Amber Glenn’s talent and determination have lifted her to the top of women’s figure skating and have made her the first, out queer woman to skate for Team USA in the Olympic Games.
And that, folks, is how history is made.
— Coy Covington