Amber Glenn’s path to Grand Prix Final, figure skating stardom a decade-long journey

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Amber Glenn’s path to Grand Prix Final, figure skating stardom a decade-long journey

(Note: After this story was published, Amber Glenn won the Grand Prix Final (above), becoming the first U.S. woman to take that title since 2010)

Damon Allen remembers well how he felt about Amber Glenn after seeing her performances in the junior event at the 2014 U.S. Championships.

“I thought, ‘This girl is going to be the next star,’” Allen recalled last week.

There is, of course, a tendency in figure skating to anoint the next big thing prematurely. Still, Allen’s reaction did not seem impulsively hasty.

After all, the 14-year-old Glenn had shown preternatural poise in winning the title. Her free skate earned a score better than those of all except the three medalists in the senior event, despite juniors having one fewer scoring element.

“This was not an overnight success, to say the least,” Glenn told NBC Sports earlier this season.

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Using new recognition from social media, Elladj Baldé champions skaters of color

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Using new recognition from social media, Elladj Baldé champions skaters of color

Figure skater Elladj Baldé and his fiancée, dancer-choreographer Michelle Dawley, were driving in their Calgary, Alberta, neighborhood in mid-December when they noticed a patch of open ice in a field. It was deep into the pandemic lockdown, when places to skate were hard to come by, and Baldé, who had his skates in the car, wanted to commemorate the find.

“Let’s make a video,” Baldé said.

As Dawley recorded on an iPhone, Baldé pulled on his skates, ran out of his car across snow-covered grass and onto the ice, did a celebratory backflip, then some hip-hop dance moves. His open plaid shirt flapped over a hoodie, and his enthusiasm poured out.

The recording took 10 minutes, from filming to laying in music by Rihanna. It became 20 seconds on TikTok, where Baldé said he had only a couple hundred followers at the time.

That – and Baldé’s life – would change quickly.

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And, before we say goodbye to icenetwork, our favorite stories

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And, before we say goodbye to icenetwork, our favorite stories

We asked icenetwork reporters past and present to pick out their favorite article they've written for this us and explain why it was so special to them.

Mine involved finding a fresh angle in 2017 on the skater who was then the sport’s newest sensation - and who now is the world champion.

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For U.S. dancers and Canadian pair, comeback season starts well

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For U.S. dancers and Canadian pair, comeback season starts well

SALT LAKE CITY - Kirsten Moore-Towers suffered a severe concussion in Aug. 2016 in a practice collision with her pairs partner, Michael Marinaro.

It would eventually knock the Canadian team out of the previous Grand Prix season.

"It was the day that changed my life, for the better," she said Friday. "I learned a lot about myself and my partnership."

Moore-Towers learned it wasn't a good idea to keep to herself how badly she felt for a month, a month where she vomited every day and often suffered from blurry vision. Or to compete two days after the accident happened.

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