Meet Team USA's 'Blade Angels' of Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito, who are backed for Winter Olympic figure skating glory by Taylor Swift
By Leon Imber
Updated 17/02/2026 at 22:41 GMT
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Taylor Swift has got in on the Winter Olympics spirit by backing Team USA's 'Blade Angels' for glory in the women's figure skating at Milano Cortina. Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito are three of the sport's most exciting stars and represent strong medal hopes in Milan. Each have embarked on their own unique routes to make it to the Games, which are live on discovery+.
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There are few finer honours for a Team USA athlete than being backed for victory by Taylor Swift - and the 'Blade Angels' have been enshrined with that distinction.
Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn, and Isabeau Levito lit up the Milano Ice Skating Arena on Tuesday as they all qualified for Thursday's women's singles figure skating final.
They have been called "Three American showgirls on ice" by Swift in a promotional video for NBC, in a nod to her most recent album, The Life of a Showgirl.
Narrating over her hit song Opalite, Swift starts with the resilience of 2024 US champion Glenn.
"Amber will be the first to tell you about how many battles she's fought," Swift said. "And how the ones she's lost have meant as much as the wins.
"Her superpower now is embracing the fight and daring the world to test herself fully."
Glenn was a prodigious talent coming through the junior ranks, picking up Grand Prix medals in 2013 and 2014 as a teenager. But personal struggles, including battling depression, anxiety and an eating disorder, would see her step away from the sport in the 2015/16 season.
She returned in 2016 and finished eighth at the US Championships the following two years.
"I did everything I could to be able to reach my full potential," Glenn told TNT Sports. "I was fearless but, eventually, the pressure overtook me.
"There were many things that challenged me throughout the years. I just embraced my individuality and what I loved about the sport.
"It's been a much-anticipated journey to get here. From a young age, I showed a lot of promise. I was very fortunate that my family was very supportive and sacrificed a lot.
"I excelled at a very fast rate but, eventually, the pressure overtook me. It became not just an external problem but an internal problem. It was a very hard time and there were a couple of years I was just surviving.
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"I'm grateful for those years I had to really develop coping skills and connect with people around me so they could help me through that. I began to really enjoy the sport and love it again and embrace who I am, not just mentally but my identity."
Milano Cortina marked Glenn's Olympic debut, having had her hopes in Beijing four years ago dashed after contracting Covid-19 during the US Championships.
Glenn has since brought not only a fantastic energy to the ice but also a willingness to represent more than just her country.
The three-time reigning national champion came out as bisexual and pansexual and, in doing so, has provided representation for the LGBTQ+ community within the world of figure skating - and is now embracing her ability to showcase her true self.
"I knew I was not quite the same as some of my peers, being boy crazy, and having some of these feelings for other people," Glenn said. "Now, being here, and being out at a Games, I think is important and very vital.
"There are people who have come to me feeling represented and that encourages me to keep pushing on those hard days. I'm not just representing myself out there, I'm representing my community."
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Amber Glenn poses for a photo during the Victory Ceremony after competing in the Women's Free Skating during the 2026 United States Figure Skating Championships
Image credit: Getty Images
Glenn is seeking something more meaningful in Milan than just a medal.
"Who doesn't say they want to end up on the Olympic podium," Glenn said. "Of course everyone does.
"But the moment I have imagined ever since I was a kid, it wasn't I want to be on the top of the podium. It was, I want to have a moment of just 'wow.' Freedom and showing the world's biggest stage this is who I am, this is what I love."
Glenn is looking for a second gold in Milan, alongside Liu - with both in the USA team which won gold in the opening week.
In the words of Swift: "Alysa, she walked away from skating when she was 16. But then came back, on her own terms.
"Joy fills her now. Every jump, a celebration. Every performance, a testament to the beauty of knowing yourself."
At just 13 years old, Liu became the youngest ever United States women's national figure skating champion in 2019.
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Three years later, she made her Olympic debut in Beijing, finishing sixth. Months after that, Liu claimed bronze at the World Championships.
Two weeks on from that feat - she retired.
Just like Glenn, she stepped away from the sport as a teenager. And she has previously spoken about her joy at living life outside of the intense pressure cooker that is figure skating.
"I thought the only way for me to try other things was to leave this because I really felt trapped and stuck, and the only way in my brain to break out was to leave the sport,’’ Liu told CNN. "And it worked.’’
Liu announced in 2024 she would return to the rink and told Olympics.com she is now a "better version" of herself.
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She stunned the world to win gold at last year's World Championships and an individual medal at Milano Cortina would be the ultimate seal on her stunning comeback.
But 18-year-old Levito will hope to spring something of a shock on her compatriots.
"I mean, she's destiny personified," Swift said. "Her mum grew up in Milan and her Nonna, her Grandma, lives exactly 13 minutes from the Olympic rink.
"When you can skate like you're meant to be out there, history has a funny way of showing up."
The script almost writes itself for the final third of the Blade Angels.
Levito is perhaps the most exciting American skating prospect, having made her international debut in the 2021/22 season as a national champion.
She was too young to compete in the Beijing Games but comes into Milano Cortina slightly underrated due to the hefty reputations of her compatriots.
Levito made a huge impression in the junior scene, winning the world title in her only appearance.
In 2022/23, she moved up to senior level. She won two Grand Prix silver medals in her debut campaign, which helped her become the youngest US skater to qualify for the Grand Prix final in 15 years.
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With silver in the 2023/24 World Championships, her credentials are there for all to see.
"They're team-mates and friends," Swift said. "They call themselves the Blade Angels, and they're taking centre stage when the show starts in Milan."
Watch every moment of the 2026 Winter Olympics from Milano Cortina live and on demand on TNT Sports and discovery+
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