For Team USA’s Amber Glenn, the journey to the 2026 Olympics began not with a skate, but with a DVD. Her childhood hero, Sarah Hughes, and her iconic 2002 gold medal performance are the direct inspiration for Glenn’s own quest for Olympic glory.
Every Olympic champion has an origin story. For Amber Glenn, the 26-year-old Team USA favorite heading to the 2026 Winter Olympics, that story begins not on the ice, but in front of a small television, watching a performance that would change her life forever. The skater captivating her young mind was Sarah Hughes, and the year was 2002.
“I remember watching Sarah Hughes in the 2002 Olympics quite a few years after it happened on DVD on my little Cinderella TV and just the exhilaration and excitement,” Glenn reveals, recalling the moment that became her first Olympic memory. “That was my first Olympic memory.”
The performance Glenn watched on repeat was nothing short of legendary. At just 16, Hughes, now 40, pulled off one of the greatest upsets in figure skating history at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. After a shaky start, Hughes rallied with a flawless technical display, including a historic triple toe loop-triple loop combination, to surpass the heavily favored Russian skater Irina Slutskaya and her own American teammates.
That moment of triumph on the screen was the spark. “I wanted to skate as fast as I could,” Glenn says, remembering her childhood ambition. “I wanted to try all the hard things that I saw the older girls trying.” This determination led her to the ice, a journey that would see her become a champion in her own right. By age 14, the Plano, Texas native was the U.S. junior women’s champion, a testament to the fire Hughes had lit within her.
The connection between the two skaters deepened when Glenn received an unexpected call from her hero after winning that junior title. “She really inspired me,” Glenn shares. “[That call] was such a cool meeting-your-heroes moment. And I’m so grateful to her.” This moment marked the transition from fandom to a professional relationship built on mutual respect.
Glenn’s path to the top was not without its challenges. She has been open about her struggles with mental health, a battle that led her to step away from the sport for a period. “I’ve always had the physical capabilities, but the mental side has been a struggle for me,” she admits. Her decision to come out as pansexual around that time, however, became a turning point. “It’s been a weight off my shoulders,” Glenn explains. “I know regardless of whatever results of whatever I do on the ice, that I’m able to speak about my journey and my process truthfully and inspire others to do the same, and not feel as alone in who they are.”
This newfound mental fortitude translated into results. Glenn returned to the podium, and then, she hit her stride. In a stunning achievement, she became the first woman since Michelle Kwan to win back-to-back-to-back U.S. Figure Skating championships in 2024, 2025, and again earlier this month at the 2026 competition. This consistent excellence solidified her place on the U.S. figure skating squad for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
The legacy of Hughes continues to influence Glenn. Even now, as a multi-time national champion, Glenn still gets a thrill when her childhood hero reaches out. “I’ll even get texts of congratulations sometimes and I fangirl a little bit every time,” the 5-foot-5 Texan smiles. This ongoing connection underscores the profound and lasting impact of Hughes’ 2002 victory, not just on the sport, but on the individual who would one day follow in her Olympic footsteps.
As Glenn prepares to compete in Milan-Cortina, she reflects on the long, difficult road that brought her here. But for the first time, she allows herself to believe. “I’d say this is really the first time that I truly believed that I could make an Olympic team and that I had put in the work that I really deserved it, because I have been putting in the work every single day for the last four years,” Glenn says. “And I really, really think that it’s something I can do. And I’m allowing myself to have that dream now.”
That dream was first conceived on a small screen, fueled by the grace and grit of Sarah Hughes. Now, Amber Glenn is ready to write her own chapter in the Olympic story, carrying the torch of inspiration passed down from one generation of American champion to the next.
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