The U.S. fielded one of its strongest figure skating teams in history for the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, and now it is time for three of the best-known members of the team to shine: the so-called “Blade Angels.”
Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn and New Jersey’s own Isabeau Levito each have a legitimate shot at making the podium, as they have been called the strongest American women’s contingent ever sent to an Olympic Games.
All three have been national champions. Liu and Levito have been world medalists (gold for Liu in 2025, silver for Levito in 2024). Liu and Glenn have been Grand Prix Final Champions (Liu in 2025 and Glenn in 2024).
“I haven’t seen a U.S. women’s team this strong in 20 years,” Olympic gold medalist and commentator Tara Lipinski told NBC Olympics.
The trio will be aiming for the first U.S. women’s medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.
U.S. figure skating star Amber Glenn is wearing a dress inspired by Madonna while skating to her hit “Like a Prayer” at the 2026 Milan-Cortina-Olympics.
Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.
“This time just feels so completely different. I know who I am as a person now,” Liu said after her performance in the team event Friday.
Friday’s skate in the short program wasn’t quite at that level and Liu grimaced at one wobbly landing as she placed second behind three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan. Still, it kept the U.S. team in the lead with three of eight programs completed.
U.S. figure skater Amber Glenn remembers the first time she skated after coming out.
Liu’s biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.
Levito is making her Olympic debut at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics and has been skating since she was just 3 years old. Levito has said she was inspired to take up figure skating after watching the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Unlike Glenn and Liu, Levito did not skate in the team event. Her grandparents live just 13 minutes from the Milano Ice Skating Arena, making this a home crowd of sorts for the youngest member of the U.S. figure skating team.
The 18-year-old comes to the 2026 Winter Olympics with quite the resume. She won gold at the U.S. Championships in 2023 and a bronze medal in 2024; she took from silver at the 2024 World Championships and came in fourth in 2025.
Glenn is the only American woman trying a triple axel at Milan Cortina. The 26-year-old powerhouse and LGBTQ+ rights activist saw her career took off just when most figure skaters are contemplating retirement. She is the three-time and reigning U.S. champion (2023, 2024, 2025), the first woman to accomplish that since Michelle Kwan.
Glenn is the oldest American woman to compete in the Olympic women’s singles event in nearly a century (1928).
Liu draws strength from her American teammates — “that energy is what I crave” — and came up with the nickname “Blade Angels” for herself and the other two U.S. women’s skaters, a mashup of “Blades of Glory” and “Charlie’s Angels.”
“If we do our jobs in Milan,” Glenn said, “then more than likely someone is going to be up there.”
Figure skating is always one of the most anticipated events of the Olympic Games. And in Milan, Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito are looking to return the U.S. to the top of the podium. Steve Kornacki breaks down how the scoring system works, what judges look for, and how skaters maximize points to gain a competitive edge on the ice.
Other skaters to watch for
The “Blade Angels” will face stiff competition for medals, with rivals from Japan and Russia sure to challenge.
The medals won’t be won Tuesday but medal hopes can be dashed in the short program. Watch out for Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, a three-time world champion, and her teammates, Ami Nakai and Mone Chiba.
Then there’s Adeliia Petrosian, who has barely skated outside Russia but could shake up the whole competition. Competing as a neutral athlete, Petrosian has big jumps and a controversial coach, and seems to have shaken off injury concerns.
It might be easy to miss Petrosian, since she skates second of 29 competitors, with the other main contenders at the end.
James Ellingworth of The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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