Women’s short program at Milano Cortina on February 17, 2026, upended expectations for Team USA. The trio nicknamed the Blade Angels — Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu and Isabeau Levito — skated with ambition and polish, each chasing the first U.S. Olympic medal in women’s singles in nearly 20 years. Small margins, though, proved decisive.
Amber Glenn’s performance illustrated how one mistake can change everything. She opened with a clean triple Axel that energized the crowd, but a later triple loop came up short: technical reviewers judged the takeoff mistimed and the jump under-rotated, so the loop was given no base value. That single invalidated element sliced more than seven points from her short-program total, dropping her to 13th with a score of 67.39. She still qualified for the free skate, but the leaderboard — and Team USA’s medal math — had been reshuffled. Glenn left the Kiss-and-Cry visibly shaken: “I don’t know what happened, I had it,” she said, a reminder of how razor-thin the line is between triumph and setback on the Olympic stage.
Alysa Liu, meanwhile, produced one of her best short programs of the season. Skating earlier in the group, she nailed a triple Lutz–triple loop combination and delivered with clear musical connection, earning a season-high 76.59 and sitting third after the segment. Her routine combined technical range with expressive nuance — precisely the mix judges reward when margins are tight.
Isabeau Levito also kept the U.S. well positioned. Making her Olympic debut in her mother’s hometown, Levito skated a composed short that brought her 70.84 points and an eighth-place standing. Her clean outing preserved a realistic path to the podium and maintained a strong American presence heading into the free skate.
At the top of the leaderboard, Japan’s Ami Nakai and Kaori Sakamoto posted the two highest short-program scores, setting a brisk pace that the rest of the field must chase. Nakai’s lead makes her the skater to beat, but both Liu and Levito remain well within striking distance if they deliver under pressure in the longer program.
What mattered today was the technical fine print: edge calls, rotation and landing placement. A move that looks secure to most viewers can still fail the technical panel’s test. Coaches and skaters constantly weigh risk against reward — how much difficulty to attempt, when to protect a lead — and those decisions are magnified at the Olympics. The invalidated loop in Glenn’s program is a textbook example: one mis-timed takeoff erased the element’s value and swung the team calculations.
For Team USA the implications are clear. With Liu up in third, she stands as the strongest medal contender after the short. Levito offers a backup route to the podium; Glenn, despite her setback, still has a chance to climb with a composed, technically clean free skate. But the margin for error will be minimal, especially with top contenders from Japan and other nations all capable of producing near-flawless performances.
Beyond scores and placements, the short program left human stories on the ice. Levito’s hometown crowd buoyed her; teammates rallied around Glenn at the Kiss-and-Cry; and Liu’s praise for her friend highlighted the camaraderie behind elite competition. Music choices and choreography mattered too — Liu’s interpretive details and Glenn’s use of “Like a Prayer” added narrative weight that extended beyond jumps and spins, reminding fans that Olympic programs are both athletic tests and storytelling vehicles.
Looking ahead to the free skate: expect the technical bar to rise. Skaters will try extra combinations and more high-value jumps, and stamina will be tested over the longer program. Judges will be watching for under-rotations and edge errors, while program components — skating skills, transitions, performance and interpretation — will separate the close finishes. How skaters manage their opening combinations and the final technical sequences could tip the scales; often, the closing elements leave the most lasting impression.
In short, the free skate will decide who converts short-program positioning into medals. The U.S. has multiple pathways to the podium but no guarantees. One clean, confident free skate can erase today’s setbacks; a stumble can undo a promising start. As the competition moves into its decisive phase, expect small margins and intense drama — the kind that defines Olympic figure skating.