Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu, and Isabeau Levito comprise the U.S. Women's Figure Skating team, also known as the 'Blade Angels'
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NEED TO KNOW
- Team USA’s Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu, and Isabeau Levito received superstar treatment with an introduction from Taylor Swift
- The U.S. Figure Skating Olympic team announced that the three Olympians can be referred to as the Blade Angels
- The Blade Angels will perform the Women’s Figure Skating Short Program on Tuesday, Feb. 17, and the Free Skate on Thursday, Feb. 19
Taylor Swift is sharing her support for Team USA.
On Monday, Feb. 16, the U.S. Figure Skating Olympic team posted an Instagram video announcing the Blade Angels, with Swift introducing the three Olympians: Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu, and Isabeau Levito.
The video kicks off with each figure skater's silhouette, as Swift, 36, says, "Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to Amber, Alysa and Isabeau."
The Grammy winner then calls the women "three American showgirls on ice," a nod to her latest hit album, The Life of a Showgirl, and adds that their stories will "capture your heart."
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"Amber will be the first to tell you about how many battles she's fought, and how the ones she's lost have meant as much as the wins," Swift said of 26-year-old Glenn. "Her superpower now is embracing the fight and daring the world to test her self-belief."
"As for Alysa, she walked away from skating when she was 16, then came back on her own terms. Joy fuels her now. Every jump, a celebration. Every performance, a testament to the beauty to know yourself," Swift explained of Liu, 20, who previously announced her retirement from the sport after the 2022 Beijing Games.
"And then Isabeau. I mean, she's destiny personified," the Midnights singer said. "Her mom 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 fun way of showing up."
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"They're teammates and friends. They call themselves the Blade Angels, and tomorrow night, they're taking center stage when the show starts in Milan," the video concludes.
The Blade Angels will compete in the Women's Short Program event at 12:45 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Feb. 17. They will compete in the Free Skate event on Thursday, Feb. 19, at 1 p.m. ET.
As for how the Blade Angels prepared for their forthcoming performance, the figure skating stars have actively been displaying their close friendship and support for one another ahead of the Games.
Glenn recently told PEOPLE how her journey to the Winter Games was a "long, very difficult road." She is celebrated for her signature move: being the only American woman who can land so many famously tricky triple axel jumps. "Looking back, one thing I can say is I wasn't always the most graceful or talented or amazing skater, but there was determination," she told PEOPLE.
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Liu, who decided to retire after the 2022 Olympic Games and return to the sport in 2025, previously told PEOPLE that she’s “more excited” about figure skating than ever before.
“I was not there for the skating at all in my head,” the California native told PEOPLE of her experience at the 2022 Olympic Games. “I was checked out. I was just there for the Olympic experience.”
Glenn added in an interview with The Los Angeles Times that she "could never have imagined even making it" to the 2026 Winter Olympics. “To just be here is a privilege that I don’t take lightly, and I need to remind myself of that and to just really soak in the experience, not just the results.”
Meanwhile, Levito, 16, told the L.A. Times that each skater has aligned values based on their dedication to the sport, despite being "all so different" from each other. "We all have the same passion for the sport and have very aligned goals of wanting to do our best, and once we do that, we’re all happy, regardless of who beat who.”
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Milan Cortina Olympics and Paralympics, beginning Feb. 6, on NBC and Peacock.
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