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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Changes in skating rules to limit jumps may make Malinin's record literally one for the ages

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Changes in skating rules to limit jumps may make Malinin's record literally one for the ages

There is an old saying in sports that goes, “Records are made to be broken.”

That may not apply to the world record men’s free skate score Ilia Malinin posted in winning the 2024 World Championships – as well as to several women’s world records – if the International Skating Union passes proposals limiting jumps at its biennial Congress this June in Las Vegas.

Should that happen, everyone should have their asterisks ready, as the ISU once again will have to create yet another chronological subdivision on its already confusing record lists.

While the formal agenda for the ISU Congress will not be made public until next week, the preliminary agenda includes the following changes to singles free skate programs recommended by the singles and pairs technical committee:

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Ilia Malinin takes figure skating to new heights while winning world title

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Ilia Malinin takes figure skating to new heights while winning world title

MONTREAL — Let the skating apotheosis of Ilia Malinin begin.

And why not? In four minutes Saturday night, the 19-year-old Virginian took his sport to athletic heights it had never seen before and took himself from third after the short program to the top of the awards podium at the world championships.

His free skate got the highest score in history. He landed an unprecedented six clean quadruple jumps, including his trademark quad Axel and two quads that opened combinations well into the second half of his program.

The crowd stood and roared when he landed his final jumping pass with about 20 seconds to go. The noise got louder and louder until it ended.

“It was amazing to hear the crowd go wild,” Malinin said.

When he finished, Malinin grabbed his head in his hands, as overwhelmed by what he had done as everyone who saw it at the Bell Centre was. He then collapsed in joy onto his back.

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Isabeau Levito delivers for her psyche, U.S. figure skating with world champs silver medal

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Isabeau Levito delivers for her psyche, U.S. figure skating with world champs silver medal

MONTREAL — Isabeau Levito’s first world championships medal could not have come at a better time for herself and for U.S. figure skating.

When she took the ice Friday night, Levito needed to win a medal to give the U.S. women a third spot at the 2025 World Championships in Boston.

And, after getting second in Wednesday’s short program, a medal would be the perfect way to rebuild Levito’s recently shaken confidence.

“I had two goals for this world championships, getting on the podium and securing the third spot for the American women,” she said. “I did both. It was extremely satisfying.”

It made no difference that she was a distant second to Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto, who became the first woman to win three consecutive world titles since Peggy Fleming of the U.S. in 1966 through 1968.

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Deanna Stellato-Dudek with a victory, and journey, for the ages (and aged) at figure skating worlds

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Deanna Stellato-Dudek with a victory, and journey, for the ages (and aged) at figure skating worlds

MONTREAL – Deanna Stellato-Dudek is now one for the ages.

And for the aged — at least by the actuarial tables for figure skating careers.

And maybe even for a film script. After all, she has already written two acts, one as a U.S. singles skater from suburban Chicago, the other who returned to the sport after a 16-year absence as a pairs’ skater now representing Canada.

“It’s a dream come true,” Stellato-Dudek said in English after opening by speaking French to the crowd in partner Maxime Deschamps’ native Quebec.

At age 40, Stellato-Dudek became the oldest woman to win a world title in any figure skating discipline when she and Deschamps took gold Thursday night at the Bell Centre.

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