Amber Glenn may be nearing the end of her competitive skating career. After helping Team USA win gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, and then falling just short in the individual event, she’s now taking time to figure out what comes next. Glenn took the ice one more time for the exhibition gala on Saturday, 21st February. At 26, she knows she’s at the later stage of a typical figure skating career, and this could very well have been her final Olympic appearance.

Speaking to U.S. Figure Skating, she reflected honestly about her future. “I am grateful that my body has held up for this long. I will reevaluate after the season’s over and see how I’m doing physically, mentally,” she said before adding, “I am not opposed to doing a one last season hoorah, just for fun and seeing, ‘Hey, let’s see if I can do a quad, see what features I can go for.’”

Well, Amber Glenn has been on the ice for most of her life. She started skating at just 5 years old and entered competitions by 8 with formal coaching. Even so, she has often described herself as a late bloomer because her biggest breakthroughs came later than many of her peers. It wasn’t until her national podium finish in 2021 that she truly emerged as a top contender.

By 2024, she captured her first national title, a major milestone that pushed her career to another level. She carried that momentum into the next season, adding more honors at the ISU Grand Prix Final. Winning the national title again in 2026 secured her place on Team USA for the 2026 Winter Olympics, giving her a chance to turn the heartbreak of the 2022 Winter Olympics into something special in Milano-Cortina.

Still, this Olympics brought its own challenges. In the individual short program, a costly mistake left her in 13th place with a score of 67.39. It was a tough setback and raised questions about her future, especially as she has hinted at retirement. The good news? Despite the stumble, she still qualified for the free skate.

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And in the medal round, she bounced back. The Plano, Texas native delivered a strong performance, earning a season-high 147.52 in the free skate. Her combined score of 214.91 placed her 5th overall, a solid finish after a rocky start.

But she wasn’t done yet. At the Exhibition Gala inside the Milano Ice Skating Arena, Glenn gave the crowd one more memorable moment, skating to Lady Gaga’s “That’s Life.”

The Gala marked the final figure skating event of these Games. Now, after hinting that retirement could be near, Amber Glenn is heading home with the rest of Team USA. But will the 2026 Olympic gold medalist compete at the World Figure Skating Championships next month in Prague?

Amber Glenn sets her sights on the next chapter

With Amber Glenn finishing 5th, the podium belonged to Alysa Liu in first, followed by Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto in second and Ami Nakai in third. Still, a fifth-place finish doesn’t define Glenn’s potential. Even though she has hinted at retirement, it doesn’t mean she can’t come back stronger.

Unlike many other sports where athletes get a long offseason after the Olympics, figure skating doesn’t slow down for long. The next major event is right around the corner. Many of the same stars fans just watched at the 2026 Winter Olympics will be back on the ice at the World Championships in Prague from March 23 through March 29.

“I mean, Worlds – that’s in like three weeks,” Amber Glenn said before earning gold.

After the Olympics wrapped up, though, she joked that she’ll first have to deal with something much less glamorous – unpacking. “There’s gonna be a lot to unpack,” she said with a laugh. “Like literally, literally unpack. There’s so much stuff that was given to us at the beginning of the Games that we gotta somehow get home and find a place for.”

Even though she has recently hinted at retirement, she previously sounded genuinely excited about competing in Prague.

“I’ve never been to Prague, so I’m so excited for that,” she said, clearly looking forward to the experience.

Now, it all comes down to what she decides next. Will she take the ice at Worlds and give fans one more performance, or will she step away? That’s the big question.