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'Dinosaur' Glenn chasing skating gold in first Olympics / Photo: © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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'Dinosaur' Glenn chasing skating gold in first Olympics
US champion Amber Glenn said Wednesday she may feel like a dinosaur competing in her first Winter Olympics at the age of 26 but she sees it as a great opportunity to put the US back on the women's podium after a two-decade absence.
"At 26, I'm a little bit of a dinosaur in ladies' singles, which is absurd, but it is true. So I've had to balance the pushing," Glenn told a press conference in Milan.
Glenn beat world champion Alysa Liu to lift a third US women's title last month as they chase a first Olympic women's individual figure skating medal since Sasha Cohen won silver in 2006.
"Because we've been here for so long, the intensity wore off pretty quickly, and now it's just a really cool, fun experience, like we're at sleep-away camp. It feels like I'm in a college dorm," she said of her Olympic experience.
"I'm just trying to embrace that and remind myself that this is a great opportunity, not just a competition. But also, I am here to do a job.
"I've just kept my head down and have been training."
The oldest woman to win an Olympic gold medal in singles figure skating was Britain's Madge Syers, who won the 1908 Olympic ladies' singles event at age 27.
Meanwhile Glenn, who has become a prominent LGBTQ female athlete, says she will not shy away from speaking out about that issue at the Olympics.
"I hope I can use my platform and my voice throughout these Games to try and encourage people to stay strong in these hard times," said the Texan.
"I know that a lot of people say you're just an athlete, like, stick to your job, shut up about politics, but politics affect us all.
"It is something that I will not just be quiet about because it is something that affects us in our everyday lives."
Glenn is hoping to compete in the team competition which gets underway on Friday before the ladies singles event starts on February 17.
"It's all going to come down to the decisions that the athletes and the people in charge make. We are going to prioritise both physical and mental health."
The United States are favourites to defend the Olympic team title, spearheaded by two-time men's world champion Ilia Malinin.
"This team in particular is so deep, so talented, and has a great opportunity for a gold medal," said ice dancer Evan Bates, a three-time world champion, who competes with his wife Madison Chock.
"I'm 36. It's my fifth Olympics, and there's mileage on the body. What we do isn't easy and it's very physical."
O. Petrow--BTZ
