Team USA leaders criticized after Amber Glenn makes serious mistake and watches podium dream slip away

On Tuesday at the Winter Olympics, figure skater Amber Glenn took to the ice as one of three American stars known as the “Blade Angels,” but she made a serious mistake that cost her a chance at the podium.

Glenn had an amazing start to her routine, completing a triple-axel that immediately had all of the eyes on her, but she failed to complete a combination jump, aborting midway through, which tanked her score to 67.39, finishing 13th place in the short program.

She was in tears as she left the ice, as the weight of her mistake hit her all at once. When embracing her team, all Glenn could say was “I had it.”

The other two American skaters had a stronger night, with Alysa Lui delivering a stunning program that was good for a second of 76.59, sitting third to Ami Nakai, who has a 78.71, and Kaori Sakamoto, with a 77.23.

Isabeau Levito, the third member of the “Blade Angels,” finished eighth with a controlled, elegant program that earned her a score of 70.84.

Considering all three skaters’ scores, Glenn is well outside the podium fight, Levito has a shot at one of the top three spots, and Liu is in the driver’s seat to at least come away with a medal, if not take gold.

However, while Team USA will not sweep the figure skating singles competition, Team Japan is in a strong position, holding three of the top four spots, with only Liu between them.

As a result of Japan’s strong start in the competition, users on r/Figure Skating have been contemplating the differences between the two nations’ results.

“I’m just like––Japanese leadership has to be doing something right; and what can Team USA learn from them? Do we push our skaters harder than Team Japan, is our media wayyy more saturated than Japanese media, does Team Japan have better mental health resources somehow?” user oatmilkxoxo posted.

“I just want all the skaters to be properly taken care of, and I’m soooo exhausted by the US-excellence media machine that seems to constantly be pushing for athletes to not only be on the podium, but win AND break records while doing it. Does Japanese do that as well, or is this uniquely American?”

What are the reasons for the U.S. figure skating struggles?

“For one thing, the women’s field is far more competitive in Japan. Nationals is a bloodbath for example,” one user commented.

“just read a quote from kaori that said she was more scared going into japanese nationals than she was coming into these olympics, which really emphasizes just how deep the field is in japan. i think it’s not so much that they’re “better” at caring for athletes but that if someone can’t handle it they get buried extremely quickly,” another said.

“It’s not just Japan, it’s everybody. Japanese culture is about the good of the collective. The same with Europe and our team sports environment. America is about the individual. Even the team sports that they have is all about a certain individual that team. When you get events like the Ryder Cup in golf, yes it’s a team event but the Americans all have main character syndrome and the Europeans play cohesively as a team. America as a nation has main character syndrome,” a third added.

On Thursday, Liu and Levito get the chance to fight for a medal, while Glenn has nothing to lose and will look to give the best account of herself.