Latest news with #AmberGlenn
Associated Press
29-03-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
For two-time US champion Amber Glenn, waiting for the free skate at worlds was the hardest part
BOSTON (AP) — Two-time defending U.S. champion Amber Glenn survived the interminable wait to get back on the ice Friday night after she had fallen in her short program at the figure skating world championships. Then came an even more painful turn in the new leader's chair, which was introduced this year to bring athletes closer to the fans, and where Glenn sat bathed in bright lights until someone surpassed her score. At one point, the camera cut to Glenn and she was shown on the TD Garden scoreboards and TV monitors while she distractedly scrolled through her phone. 'I don't love it,' she told reporters with a wince. 'Awkward and stressful.' She may have skated to 'I Will Find You' by Audiomachine. But her personal mantra is more like 'The Waiting is the Hardest Part.' 'I kept thinking, 'OK, 10 minutes and it's over' — you know, counting down until I was done,' Glenn said. 'Just because it's been such a tough two months of training since nationals.' Not long after Glenn finished, Alysa Liu became the first American women's figure skating world champion since Kimmie Meissner in 2006, dethroning three-time defending champion Kaori Sakamoto on Friday with a free skate that earned her the biggest of the standing ovations of the night for a U.S. contingent that placed three skaters in the top five. Mone Chiba of Japan earned bronze, American Isabeau Levito was fourth and Glenn came in fifth — a disappointing finish for one of the favorites heading into the event, but quite a climb from ninth place after falling on her opening triple axel Wednesday. The 25-year-old from Plano, Texas, who was unbeaten heading into worlds, landed that same triple axel in her free skate. She made a minor mistake on her triple lutz-double toe combination, and had to change up a couple of jumps for simpler options in the middle of the program, but she still posted a solid free-skate score of 138.00 points. 'Of course, I'm upset about making a mistake on my easiest jump,' she said. 'But I'm proud of myself for fighting.' Glenn received a huge ovation from the American crowd – some of them waving rainbow flags for the outspoken bisexual and pansexual skater – and a torrent of stuffed animals poured onto the ice. 'They really got me through the program, even after mistakes,' she said. 'It startled me after the loop going into my axel-axel because I went to step and the crowd went wild' -- she gasped -- 'I went 'Oh, shoot.' But I walked back in, so I was proud of that.' Talking to reporters while Levito skated — and insisting that they leave a clear view of the monitor as she rooted on her U.S. teammate — Glenn said she was happy to bounce back after her disappointing short program. 'I did not feel good physically here. I felt horrible, mentally,' she said. 'So, coming into this event, I didn't exactly feel like the powerful (fighter) that I need to be in my short program. I kind of felt a bit timid, and I'm just happy I was able to fight through that.' ___
USA Today
28-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
World figure skating championships 2025: Updates, results, TV schedule
World figure skating championships 2025: Updates, results, TV schedule BOSTON — We're into Day 3 of the 2025 world figure skating championships at TD Garden, and it could be a historic night for Team USA. The Americans have two skaters in podium position in the women's singles competition, which will conclude Friday night. Alysa Liu, 19, is sitting in first place after the short program, followed by Isabeau Levito, who is in third. A U.S. woman has not won an individual world title in figure skating since 2006 − which is before Levito was born. Amber Glenn, the defending U.S. champion, is also still in play for a podium spot after a ninth-place finish in the short program. The Americans' top rivals will be Mone Chiba, Wakaba Higuchi and Kaori Sakamoto of Japan. First, though, TD Garden will host the start of the ice dance competition Friday afternoon. The highlight will be reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who are the defending world champions and will look to defend their crown against the Canadian team of Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, among others. Here's everything you need to know from Day 3 of the figure skating world championships: Top U.S. figure skaters gather to honor flight crash victims with show U.S. figure skating's biggest names are coming together for 'Legacy on Ice', a tribute show for the victims of the tragic flight crash on January 29th. Sports Pulse When do the Americans skate today? Here's a rundown of when the American skaters will be on the ice today. 3:42 p.m. ET: Caroline Green and Michael Parsons, rhythm dance Caroline Green and Michael Parsons, rhythm dance 3:49 p.m. ET: Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarekno, rhythm dance Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarekno, rhythm dance 4:28 p.m. ET: Madison Chock and Evan Bates, rhythm dance Madison Chock and Evan Bates, rhythm dance 8:33 p.m. ET: Amber Glenn, women's free skate Amber Glenn, women's free skate 9:28 p.m. ET: Isabeau Levito, women's free skate Isabeau Levito, women's free skate 9:44 p.m. ET: Alysa Liu, women's free skate When does Ilia Malinin compete next at the 2025 world figure skating championships? Ilia Malinin, the 20-year-old defending world champion from Reston, Virginia, is sitting atop the leaderboard in the men's competition after an outstanding short program Thursday. He will next take the ice in the free skate Saturday night, likely around 9:45 p.m. ET. That portion of the session will be televised on NBC. World figure skating championships 2025 TV schedule Here is the complete schedule for the 2025 world figure skating championships, with channel and television coverage start times in parentheses. The entirety of all sessions will be available on Peacock. Today, 11:15 a.m. to 4:54 p.m. ET: Rhythm dance (USA Network, 3 p.m.) Tonight, 6 p.m. to 9:52 p.m. ET: Women's free skate (NBC, 8 p.m.) Saturday, 1:30 p.m. to 4:50 p.m. ET: Free dance (USA Network, 3 p.m.) Saturday, 6 p.m. to 9:52 p.m. ET: Men's free skate (NBC, 8 p.m.)
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Amber Glenn, the skater redefining what power looks like on the ice
Amber Glenn competes in the free skate during the Grand Prix final in Grenoble last December. Photograph: Olivier Chassignole/AFP/Getty Images When Amber Glenn takes the ice for the free skate on Friday night at the world figure skating championships in Boston after a disappointing short program, fans will be holding their breath. Undefeated this season, she was seen as the one to beat. The Grand Prix final Champion, two-time US champion, the only woman to regularly land a triple Axel in competition (on which she suffered an uncharacteristic fall, landing her ninth place in the short on Wednesday afternoon), she had been tipped to become the first US woman to win the world title in nearly 20 years. But with less than seven points between her and first place, nothing is impossible. And while much of the tenacity that could still bring her victory this week lies in her raw athleticism, Glenn has something in her arsenal more tenuous, and more volatile: She's an artist. At first glance, Glenn doesn't appear so different to the all-American skating stars of past decades. Slender, with blonde curled hair framing her perfectly made up face, she doesn't overtly break the mold. But when the music starts, something else takes over. She's explosive; her movements deliberate, and there's a weight to her actions that not only enables her to drive across the ice like a hockey player, but to display exquisite musicality, showcasing a sensitivity and showmanship that has gained her a devoted fanbase (and 1.5m TikTok followers). Advertisement Schedule All times EST. Wed 26 Mar • Women's Short, 12.05pm (Peacock) • Women's Short, 3pm (USA Network) • Remembrance Ceremony, 6.15pm (Peacock) • Pairs' Short, 6.45pm (Peacock) Thu 27 Mar • Men's Short, 11.05am (Peacock) • Men's Short, 3pm (USA Network) • Pairs' Free, 6.15pm (Peacock) • Pairs' Free, 8pm (USA Network) Fri 28 Mar • Rhythm Dance, 11.15am (Peacock) • Rhythm Dance, 3pm (USA Network) • Women's Free, 6pm (Peacock) • Women's Free, 8pm (NBC/Peacock) Sat 29 Mar • Free Dance, 1.30pm (Peacock) • Free Dance, 3pm (USA Network) • Men's Free, 6pm (Peacock) • Men's Free, 8pm (NBC/Peacock) Advertisement Sun 30 Mar • Exhibition Gala, 2pm (Peacock) How to watch outside the US United Kingdom As of last year, Premier Sports holds the broadcasting rights for the World Figure Skating Championships in the UK, with coverage extending until 2028. To watch the championships, you'll need a subscription to Premier Sports, which offers live coverage of the events. You can subscribe through their official website or via certain TV providers that include Premier Sports in their packages. Australia SBS provides live and free coverage of the World Figure Skating Championships in Australia through SBS On Demand. Advertisement For Glenn's choreographers, Katherine Hill and Kaitlyn Weaver, working with the 25-year-old means almost limitless possibility. 'When Amber and I take the ice, it's play time,' says Weaver, herself a three-time world medallist. 'I'll say, 'Could you do this? What about that?' And of course, the answer is always, 'yes.'' For much of the history of the sport, women figure skaters have been praised for their elegance, creating clean lines from fingertips to toes while typically performing to classical or romantic music, Weaver says. And generally, female skaters will choose one of two roles to portray: seductress or princess-like ingenue. Of course, there have been exceptions to this, but Glenn's natural muscular skill, offset by an ability to execute balletic elegance offers a new approach, averting claims she looks too rough, or 'masculine' – critiques often levied at women who focus solely on athletic skill. (Tonya Harding is one notable example.) 'When I think about creating [routines] for male or female athletes, there are intrinsic differences in what they will want their performance to look like, what their body is capable of, and what they will be judged on,' Hill says. 'With Amber, some of those differences feel like they don't exist.' Hill joined Glenn's team three years ago, and says that as a choreographer, she often asks skaters if they see themselves as athletes or artists. Most will think briefly before choosing 'athlete,' but with Glenn, the answer is clearly the latter. Hill believes that along with innate ability, lessons learned from cultivating a large social media following have also made an impact on Glenn's creativity. She understands the importance of timing – matching an exciting or beautiful move with a musical crescendo, grabbing attention and drawing the audience in. She also understands that figure skating is a judged sport, and just like her followers, judges want to be entertained. Advertisement Watch her skate, and you'll see one-handed cartwheels, massive 'butterfly' leaps in which she launches herself horizontally into the air, and physics-defying cantilevers – a move that has her gliding on her blades down the ice like she's taking part in the most extreme limbo contest possible, hair brushing back on the ice. She's itching to include a backflip. And of course there's the triple Axel. She isn't the first to perform any of these moves, but she's the first to package them together – and to pull them off in competition. All this sounds extremely athletic – and it is – but the overall impression is more of a contemporary dancer than a champion figure skater. Related: 'Frozen in time': figure skating world unites in grief and tribute at Boston world championships For many fans, the allure of figure skating is its proximity to the arts; but for over 300 years, it's been a competed sport, and as a sport, there are restrictions and requirements that level what athletes must perform. In the men's and women's disciplines, jumps – skaters leaping high into the air and rotating as many as four times before landing on a single blade – have become integral to the sport. Glenn understands the need for recognizable, judgable elements, but she believes the sport could benefit from loosening its obsession with jumps. 'I have so many things that are in my arsenal that I would love to perform in competition. But some of the more interesting and creative moves just aren't worth the risk,' Glenn says. Sometimes she's had to take out some of the more experimental actions Hill and Weaver have created for her because she needs more time to set up a jump, and she believes fans want more. Advertisement 'Whenever I post online, it's very rare that a jump [gets more engagement] than a fast spin or a cantilever, or split leap,' Glenn says. 'Most people don't see the difference between a triple flip and triple lutz. The only reason why they know that a quad is hard is because they're told it is.' There's a chance she may get her wish. Last season the International Skating Union put forward a proposal to reduce the number of required jumps from seven to six, although this was not ultimately passed for the current Olympic cycle. Even so, Hill says each choreographic body movement – from every arm motion, to every turn of her head – is highly trained. Together, they talk about what Glenn should be feeling and thinking in each moment, what the music is expressing and how she can respond to it. In other words, she's training like a dancer. And while Glenn says she has loved choreographing and creating routines to music since she was a child, some aspects of this approach remain out of her comfort zone. 'Growing up, I always skated to more intense music,' Glenn says. 'I would make things so big, and I'd go so fast. But over time, I've learned faster isn't always better. I was like, go, go, go! Because if I ever took a moment to do something, I felt like, Oh, my God, I'm being still. I can't be still. And that's something even now I struggle with.' Her coach, Damon Allen, says that getting her to slow down is often a huge part of his role. They started using an app that tracks her heart rate, and he now uses real-time metrics to remind her to regain a sense of calm. Advertisement 'She's a perfectionist, and so, if she has an issue with an element, she wants to do it 15 times until she feels it's right,' Allen says. 'I'll have to say, 'All right, we don't need to do 15. Let's move on to something else.'' It's clearly working. After several starts and stops in her career due to injury and mental health concerns, in just two seasons Glenn has soared to the top of the sport. Glenn's coaching team all say her popularity with fans and her huge social media following is in no small part because both off and on the ice, her personality shines through. She takes the time to check in with young skaters around her, asking them how they're doing, and remembering to follow up. Glenn is also the first woman skater at her level to come out as queer while still competing, and she's an active champion for LGBTQ+ rights. 'She's the real deal,' Allen says. She's not afraid to tell you about her problems, her anxiety, her ADHD. She is a great advocate for mental health, and I think a lot of people gravitate to that.' Advertisement Regardless of the final results at the World Championships on Friday, Glenn has cemented herself as a game changer. And while at 25, she's older than many of her competitors, she's making no sign of slowing down. Allen says the feedback he receives from judges and officials is simply to 'Keep Amber, Amber,' and to keep pushing forward. 'When I think of skaters that are going to be remembered, it's people that change the game,' says Weaver. 'With Amber's highlights, her jumps, her ability to tell a story, her ability to entertain a crowd, all of those things put together make her the first of her kind.'
The Guardian
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Amber Glenn, the skater redefining what power looks like on the ice
When Amber Glenn takes the ice for the free skate on Friday night at the world figure skating championships in Boston after a disappointing short program, fans will be holding their breath. Undefeated this season, she was seen as the one to beat. The Grand Prix final Champion, two-time US champion, the only woman to regularly land a triple Axel in competition (on which she suffered an uncharacteristic fall, landing her ninth place in the short on Wednesday afternoon), she had been tipped to become the first US woman to win the world title in nearly 20 years. But with less than seven points between her and first place, nothing is impossible. And while much of the tenacity that could still bring her victory this week lies in her raw athleticism, Glenn has something in her arsenal more tenuous, and more volatile: She's an artist. At first glance, Glenn doesn't appear so different to the all-American skating stars of past decades. Slender, with blonde curled hair framing her perfectly made up face, she doesn't overtly break the mold. But when the music starts, something else takes over. She's explosive; her movements deliberate, and there's a weight to her actions that not only enables her to drive across the ice like a hockey player, but to display exquisite musicality, showcasing a sensitivity and showmanship that has gained her a devoted fanbase (and 1.5m TikTok followers). Schedule All times EST. Wed 26 Mar • Women's Short, 12.05pm (Peacock) • Women's Short, 3pm (USA Network) • Remembrance Ceremony, 6.15pm (Peacock) • Pairs' Short, 6.45pm (Peacock) Thu 27 Mar • Men's Short, 11.05am (Peacock) • Men's Short, 3pm (USA Network) • Pairs' Free, 6.15pm (Peacock) • Pairs' Free, 8pm (USA Network) Fri 28 Mar • Rhythm Dance, 11.15am (Peacock) • Rhythm Dance, 3pm (USA Network) • Women's Free, 6pm (Peacock) • Women's Free, 8pm (NBC/Peacock) Sat 29 Mar • Free Dance, 1.30pm (Peacock) • Free Dance, 3pm (USA Network) • Men's Free, 6pm (Peacock) • Men's Free, 8pm (NBC/Peacock) Sun 30 Mar • Exhibition Gala, 2pm (Peacock) How to watch outside the US United Kingdom As of last year, Premier Sports holds the broadcasting rights for the World Figure Skating Championships in the UK, with coverage extending until 2028. To watch the championships, you'll need a subscription to Premier Sports, which offers live coverage of the events. You can subscribe through their official website or via certain TV providers that include Premier Sports in their packages. Australia SBS provides live and free coverage of the World Figure Skating Championships in Australia through SBS On Demand. For Glenn's choreographers, Katherine Hill and Kaitlyn Weaver, working with the 25-year-old means almost limitless possibility. 'When Amber and I take the ice, it's play time,' says Weaver, herself a three-time world medallist. 'I'll say, 'Could you do this? What about that?' And of course, the answer is always, 'yes.'' For much of the history of the sport, women figure skaters have been praised for their elegance, creating clean lines from fingertips to toes while typically performing to classical or romantic music, Weaver says. And generally, female skaters will choose one of two roles to portray: seductress or princess-like ingenue. Of course, there have been exceptions to this, but Glenn's natural muscular skill, offset by an ability to execute balletic elegance offers a new approach, averting claims she looks too rough, or 'masculine' – critiques often levied at women who focus solely on athletic skill. (Tonya Harding is one notable example.) 'When I think about creating [routines] for male or female athletes, there are intrinsic differences in what they will want their performance to look like, what their body is capable of, and what they will be judged on,' Hill says. 'With Amber, some of those differences feel like they don't exist.' Hill joined Glenn's team three years ago, and says that as a choreographer, she often asks skaters if they see themselves as athletes or artists. Most will think briefly before choosing 'athlete,' but with Glenn, the answer is clearly the latter. Hill believes that along with innate ability, lessons learned from cultivating a large social media following have also made an impact on Glenn's creativity. She understands the importance of timing – matching an exciting or beautiful move with a musical crescendo, grabbing attention and drawing the audience in. She also understands that figure skating is a judged sport, and just like her followers, judges want to be entertained. Watch her skate, and you'll see one-handed cartwheels, massive 'butterfly' leaps in which she launches herself horizontally into the air, and physics-defying cantilevers – a move that has her gliding on her blades down the ice like she's taking part in the most extreme limbo contest possible, hair brushing back on the ice. She's itching to include a backflip. And of course there's the triple Axel. She isn't the first to perform any of these moves, but she's the first to package them together – and to pull them off in competition. All this sounds extremely athletic – and it is – but the overall impression is more of a contemporary dancer than a champion figure skater. For many fans, the allure of figure skating is its proximity to the arts; but for over 300 years, it's been a competed sport, and as a sport, there are restrictions and requirements that level what athletes must perform. In the men's and women's disciplines, jumps – skaters leaping high into the air and rotating as many as four times before landing on a single blade – have become integral to the sport. Glenn understands the need for recognizable, judgable elements, but she believes the sport could benefit from loosening its obsession with jumps. 'I have so many things that are in my arsenal that I would love to perform in competition. But some of the more interesting and creative moves just aren't worth the risk,' Glenn says. Sometimes she's had to take out some of the more experimental actions Hill and Weaver have created for her because she needs more time to set up a jump, and she believes fans want more. 'Whenever I post online, it's very rare that a jump [gets more engagement] than a fast spin or a cantilever, or split leap,' Glenn says. 'Most people don't see the difference between a triple flip and triple lutz. The only reason why they know that a quad is hard is because they're told it is.' There's a chance she may get her wish. Last season the International Skating Union put forward a proposal to reduce the number of required jumps from seven to six, although this was not ultimately passed for the current Olympic cycle. Even so, Hill says each choreographic body movement – from every arm motion, to every turn of her head – is highly trained. Together, they talk about what Glenn should be feeling and thinking in each moment, what the music is expressing and how she can respond to it. In other words, she's training like a dancer. And while Glenn says she has loved choreographing and creating routines to music since she was a child, some aspects of this approach remain out of her comfort zone. 'Growing up, I always skated to more intense music,' Glenn says. 'I would make things so big, and I'd go so fast. But over time, I've learned faster isn't always better. I was like, go, go, go! Because if I ever took a moment to do something, I felt like, Oh, my God, I'm being still. I can't be still. And that's something even now I struggle with.' Sign up to Soccer with Jonathan Wilson Jonathan Wilson brings expert analysis on the biggest stories from European soccer after newsletter promotion Her coach, Damon Allen, says that getting her to slow down is often a huge part of his role. They started using an app that tracks her heart rate, and he now uses real-time metrics to remind her to regain a sense of calm. 'She's a perfectionist, and so, if she has an issue with an element, she wants to do it 15 times until she feels it's right,' Allen says. 'I'll have to say, 'All right, we don't need to do 15. Let's move on to something else.'' It's clearly working. After several starts and stops in her career due to injury and mental health concerns, in just two seasons Glenn has soared to the top of the sport. Glenn's coaching team all say her popularity with fans and her huge social media following is in no small part because both off and on the ice, her personality shines through. She takes the time to check in with young skaters around her, asking them how they're doing, and remembering to follow up. Glenn is also the first woman skater at her level to come out as queer while still competing, and she's an active champion for LGBTQ+ rights. 'She's the real deal,' Allen says. She's not afraid to tell you about her problems, her anxiety, her ADHD. She is a great advocate for mental health, and I think a lot of people gravitate to that.' Regardless of the final results at the World Championships on Friday, Glenn has cemented herself as a game changer. And while at 25, she's older than many of her competitors, she's making no sign of slowing down. Allen says the feedback he receives from judges and officials is simply to 'Keep Amber, Amber,' and to keep pushing forward. 'When I think of skaters that are going to be remembered, it's people that change the game,' says Weaver. 'With Amber's highlights, her jumps, her ability to tell a story, her ability to entertain a crowd, all of those things put together make her the first of her kind.'
USA Today
26-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
World figure skating championships: Women's short program underway at TD Garden
World figure skating championships: Women's short program underway at TD Garden Show Caption Hide Caption Top U.S. figure skaters gather to honor flight crash victims with show U.S. figure skating's biggest names are coming together for 'Legacy on Ice', a tribute show for the victims of the tragic flight crash on January 29th. Sports Pulse BOSTON — The 2025 world figure skating championships get underway today, with the first of four days of competition at TD Garden in Boston. It's the first time the world championships have been in the United States since 2016. As the last major international competition before the 2026 Winter Olympics, these world championships will not only help determine Olympic quota spots but also set the stage for Milan-Cortina. It's a chance for athletes to see how they stack up, and it will largely determine which skaters will enter the Olympics as the favorites to land on the podium. The first day of competition starts with the short program in women's singles, as Amber Glenn, Isabeau Levito and Alysa Liu will all take the ice for the U.S. The pairs short program is scheduled for later tonight, following an in-arena tribute to the members of the figure skating community who died during the mid-air collision over the Potomac River earlier this year. Here's the latest from Day 1: Here's a rundown of when the American skaters will be on the ice today. 2:35 p.m. ET: Alysa Liu, women's short program 4:20 p.m. ET: Amber Glenn, women's short program 4:26 p.m. ET: Isabeau Levito, women's short program 7:37 p.m. ET: Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, pairs short program 9:31 p.m. ET: Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, pairs short program This figures to be one of the more interesting competitions at this week's world championships. In the absence of Russia, which usually dominates this discipline, there are a handful of skaters who could end up atop the podium. As the three-time defending world champion, Japan's Kaori Sakamoto has to be considered the favorite. But American Amber Glenn is right there, too, having beat Sakamoto head-to-head in multiple competitions -- including the Grand Prix final late last year. Isabeau Levito, who is returning from injury, also could be in the mix here. Ditto for Chaeyeon Kim of South Korea and Mone Chiba of Japan, among a host of others. USA Network will televise part of the women's short program this afternoon, beginning at 3 p.m. ET. The entirety of all sessions will be available on NBC's streaming service, Peacock. Here is the complete schedule for the 2025 world figure skating championships, with channel and television coverage start times in parentheses. Wednesday, 12:05 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. ET: Women's short program (USA Network, 3 p.m.) Wednesday, 6:45 p.m. to 10:21 p.m. ET: Pairs short program Thursday, 11:05 a.m. to 4:44 p.m. ET: Men's short program (USA Network, 3 p.m.) Thursday, 6:15 p.m. to 9:55 p.m. ET: Pairs free skate (USA Network, 8 p.m.) Friday, 11:15 a.m. to 4:54 p.m. ET: Rhythm dance (USA Network, 3 p.m.) Friday, 6 p.m. to 9:52 p.m. ET: Women's free skate (NBC, 8 p.m.) Saturday, 1:30 p.m. to 4:50 p.m. ET: Free dance (USA Network, 3 p.m.) Saturday, 6 p.m. to 9:52 p.m. ET: Men's free skate (NBC, 8 p.m.) Watch the World Championships with Fubo free trial At 25 years old, Amber Glenn has blossomed over the past year into one of the brightest stars in American figure skating. Since finishing 10th at last year's world championships in Montreal, she has won all five of the competitions in which she's been entered − including U.S. nationals and the Grand Prix final late last year. One of the keys to Glenn's rise has been her improvement with the famed triple axel, a jump that offers a substantial score if landed successfully. While Glenn has struggled with the jump at times this year, she is one of the few American women to have landed it clean in international competition. If she can do so this week, it will go a long way toward helping her win her first world title. Isabeau Levito, the reigning world silver medalist, is not just back at the world championships but also back from injury. A bone injury in her foot kept her sidelined for roughly three months. 'Yeah, it was frustrating to just sit at home and do nothing,' Levito said Tuesday. 'But it gave me a new perspective, and I take all of this for granted less. I feel much more grateful for what I do have and being able to skate every day and being able to jump.' Levito returned to competition for an Olympic test event last month but missed nationals. U.S. Figure Skating essentially gave her a bye to compete at worlds, based on past performance and pending her physical readiness. The first night of the 2025 world championships will also feature a poignant tribute to the members of the figure skating community who died in the mid-air collision near Washington National Airport on Jan. 25. All told, 28 skaters, coaches and parents died in the collision − including six from the Skating Club of Boston, which is helping host the world championships at nearby TD Garden. The tribute is scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m. ET and precede the start of the pairs competition thereafter. Ilia Malinin, the 20-year-old defending world champion from Reston, Virginia, will take the ice for the first time at the 2025 world championships on Thursday afternoon. He is expected to perform his short program in the latter part of the competition window, likely after 4 p.m. ET. That portion of the session will be televised on USA Network.
