The Olympics took away Amber Glenn's joy. She found it in her final skate

MILAN — The Olympics took Amber Glenn's joy away. On Thursday night, she made herself find it.

"I told myself," Glenn said, "no matter what, in that spiral you're gonna look up, and you're gonna say, 'I'm at the Olympics.' And I was really proud I was able to do that."

Milano Cortina was Glenn's first and likely last Winter Games after she made history at age 26 as the oldest U.S. women's singles skater to compete in 98 years. Beloved by many who saw themselves in a vulnerable superhuman and sneered at by self-proclaimed patriots who resented what she stood for, these Olympics were hard on Glenn. And those struggles materialized in her performances.

Her team event free skate was "lackluster" (Glenn's word). Her individual short program was "devastating." But her women's free skate. Oh, her women's free skate was magnificent.

"I'm a fighter, and I'm resilient," Glenn said. "And you never know what's gonna happen, because I never thought I'd even be here. And to be top five is incredible."