NBC Olympics figure skating coverage at Milano-Cortina 2026 showcased a cultural shift, as competitors displayed friendship and support rather than the icy rivalries that once defined women's figure skating.
The most visible example came from Team USA's self-proclaimed Blade Angels, as NBC showed Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu, and Isabeau Levito celebrating together throughout the Games. While Liu won gold, all three skaters expressed genuine affection for each other.
"I just adore these two ladies," Glenn told reporters in January. "I've seen them grow up since being little children, and to see them here as incredible women is probably one of the most wonderful experiences I've had in skating."
After topping the podium in Milan, Liu also praised her US teammates.
"I love Isabeau's wittiness. Truly, she's the funniest person I've ever met," Liu said. "And then Amber, she has so much love, and I love that."
Former Olympian Gracie Gold described the isolation women's figure skaters often experienced during her competitive years. "I still love skating, but it was how I coped with everything around it, and some parts of the culture and some people in the sport that I think need to change," she said in 2024.
26-year-old Glenn also remembers that intensity. She said younger women like Liu, 20, and Levito, 18, don't understand why NBC reporters keep calling their Olympic friendship unusual.
"They don't quite know what the atmosphere might have been like before," she explained. "Not that it was all bad, but there was definitely some intensity."
Figure Skaters Showcase Support as NBC Olympics Cameras Watch On
Japanese bronze medalist Ami Nakai exemplified this shift when she celebrated with Liu as the judges read the final scores, with NBC Olympics cameras capturing Liu and Nakai hugging and jumping up and down as Nakai's coach wiped away tears.
"I honestly didn't think that I was going to win a medal, so when I found that out I was overjoyed," Nakai later reflected via a translator. "Alysa Liu actually came up to me and said, 'Congratulations, it's amazing that you won a medal on your first Olympics.'"
"She's just so cute. She's so happy on the ice," Liu said. "I was like, 'I gotta celebrate like she did.'"
