{"id":7661,"date":"2026-02-24T10:30:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T10:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=7661"},"modified":"2026-02-24T10:30:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T10:30:40","slug":"they-thought-she-was-done-after-the-short-program-at-milano-cortina-2026-amber-glenn-refused-to-fade-quietly-days-after-wiping-away-tears-from-a-heartbreaking-short-program-she","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=7661","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThey thought she was done after the short program.\u201d At Milano Cortina 2026, Amber Glenn refused to fade quietly. Days after wiping away tears from a heartbreaking short program, she stormed back in the free skate \u2014 and when that triple axel landed clean, it felt less like a jump and more like a declaration. But Milan wasn\u2019t ready for what came next. At the Exhibition Gala, Glenn ditched the signature burgundy for a bold black dress that instantly set social media on fire. The energy shift was immediate. Fierce. Fearless. A little rebellious. Skating to Lady Gaga\u2019s gritty take on That\u2019s Life, she didn\u2019t glide \u2014 she prowled. Every step carried the attitude of a rock star closing out the final song of the night. This wasn\u2019t about scores anymore. It was about ownership. By the time she hit her final pose, the arena was on its feet. Not just for the performance \u2014 but for the message. Fighters don\u2019t fade out. They go out loud. There\u2019s video of that final bow \u2014 and the crowd reaction says everything… WATCH BELOW \ud83d\udc47"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Amber Glenn Set an Electric Routine to Lady Gaga, Just as Johnny Weir Did 15 Years Ago<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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The Team USA star didn\u2019t win an individual medal, but she delivered an electric performance at the February 21 exhibition gala.<\/p>\n

\"For<\/p>\n

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You might say\u00a0Amber Glenn channeled\u00a0two\u00a0<\/em>pop culture icons with her figure skating gala performance on Saturday, February 21: Lady Gaga and Johnny Weir.<\/p>\n

The Team USA champ may not have walked away with from the 2026 Winter Olympics with an individual\u00a0medal, but she did leave viewers with two unforgettable performances in Milan. Her near-perfect free skate to a medley of \u201cI Will Find You\u201d and \u201cThe Return\u201d was already excellent enough to make us forget her stumble in her short program. Days later, she hit the ice for the Exhibition Gala\u00a0\u2014 a scoreless, restriction-free event that allows skaters to showcase their art outside of competition.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

To Lady Gaga\u2019s cover of Frank Sinatra\u2019s \u201cThat\u2019s Life,\u201d Glenn danced across the ice with ease, nailing jumps and showing off a back bend that looks physically impossible to achieve, even on solid ground. The move is called a cantilever and involves spreading your legs in a squat position so that your skates are in a line, then bending backwards, while still moving. It hurts just thinking about it, let alone seeing it. That\u2019s strength and talent that we can\u2019t even fathom.<\/p>\n

Amber Glenn and Johnny Weir both have iconic skates to Lady Gaga songs<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Amber Glenn during her Exhibition Gala performance on February 21, 2026 at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics; Johnny Weir skates during the exhibition gala at the US Figure Skating Championships at Spokane Arena on January 24, 2010 in Spokane, Washington.<\/p>\n

\"Amber<\/p>\n

Photo: Tang Xinyu\/VCG; Jonathan Ferrey\/Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Glenn placed 5th overall in the 2026 Winter Games competition, due to a technical error: She failed to complete a triple jump in her short program. Her journey shares a few similarities with that of Johnny Weir, who never won a medal at the Olympics but delivered unforgettable performances \u2014specifically to Lady Gaga. Funnily enough,\u00a0he<\/em>was also known for skating to a Sinatra song, with his own\u00a02006 program to \u201cMy Way.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 26, Glenn is the oldest American woman to compete in women\u2019s singles figure skating at the 2026 Olympics, where she placed 5th. Weir was 25 at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, where he placed 6th, much to the audience\u2019s confusion.<\/p>\n

Post Olympics, Weir began skating in exhibitions to Gaga\u2019s \u201cPoker Face\u201d and \u201cBad Romance,\u201d and he went all out with his costumes and theatricality. He performed \u201cPoker Face\u201d on TODAY in head-to-toe sparkly mesh, and his routine to \u201cBad Romance\u201d became legendary.<\/p>\n

\"American<\/p>\n

At the 2011 event Fashion on Ice, Weir skated to \u201cBad Romance\u201d in a fishnet shirt, suspenders, and a feather skirt while blowing kisses to the delighted crowd. He even perfected a runway walk on ice.<\/p>\n

Now, he\u2019s an enormously popular figure skating commentator for NBC, as well as a star of Peacock\u2019s\u00a0The Traitors<\/em>. As for\u00a0Glenn, the athlete figuring out what comes next.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

\u201cI am grateful that my body has held up for this long,\u201d she said, per U.S. Figure Skating. \u201cI will reevaluate after the season\u2019s over and see how I\u2019m doing physically, mentally. I am not opposed to doing a one last season hoorah, just for fun and seeing \u2018Hey, let\u2019s see if I can do a quad, see what features I can go for.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Hopefully there\u2019s more Lady Gaga-soundtracked skating in her future as well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amber Glenn Set an Electric Routine to Lady Gaga, Just as Johnny Weir Did 15 Years Ago The Team USA star didn\u2019t win an individual medal, but… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7662,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7661"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7663,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7661\/revisions\/7663"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}