Olympians Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito finished third and fourth, respectively, in the women's short program on Wednesday at the ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2026 in Prague, Czech Republic.

Glenn, fifth at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 and a member of the U.S. team that won gold in the team event, is looking for her first World medal, while Levito, who placed 12th at the Games, is seeking her second World medal after earning silver in 2024. Both are making their fourth consecutive World Championships appearance.

In Prague, Glenn attacked every element in her short program to Madonna's "Like a Prayer," starting with her opening triple Axel, the only one of the event.

Her triple flip-triple toe loop combination was a bit tight, prompting a negative grade of execution, but Glenn flew through a fierce step sequence and delivered two superb spins, which each received Level 4 credit. Her triple loop, the jump she doubled in Milan, was solid. 

The three-time and reigning U.S. champion placed third and takes 72.65 points into the free skate.

"I was focused throughout the program," Glenn said. "I felt like I did my job out there today, and I got to enjoy the step sequence. The crowd was incredible, and I just focused on getting as many points as I could after having a bit of a rough two jumping passes in the beginning. But I stayed on my feet, and I just kept believing in myself the entire time." 

Glenn, who placed fifth at Worlds last season, is excited to be in the medal chase for the first time entering the free skate.

"It's great being able to go into the free skate not feeling like I'm clawing my way up through the ranks for once," she said. "It has been a challenge, it seems, at the World Championships year after year, doing the short program. I think competing so soon after competing [at the Olympic Games] kind of helps, so I still had that familiar feeling. Even though it's been a month, it feels like it was yesterday. I think that definitely helps, and I'm just looking forward to that free skate. It's been a really strong vehicle for me, and I just need to do what I do every day in practice."

Ironically, Glenn started her international career in the Czech Republic, competing at a 2013 Junior Grand Prix Series event.

Isabeau Levito, the reigning U.S. bronze medalist, produced one of her strongest short programs of the season, combining elegance and whimsy in her performance to a Sophia Loren medley including "Almost in Your Arms" and "Zou Bisou Bisou."

The 2023 U.S. champion, who has finished in the top four in all three of her previous trips to Worlds, hit a triple Lutz-triple loop combination — the most difficult combination of the event — en route to 72.16 points and a big thumbs up from her coach, Yulia Kuznetsova. 

"I'm happy I that I skated clean," Levito said. "I've been training hard since the Olympics and have been consistent in practice, but here I haven't been as consistent for some reason in practice, so I wasn't sure [how I'd do]."

Levito changed her opening jump combination from the Olympic Winter Games, where she included a triple flip-triple toe loop. It worked: the Lutz-loop combo garnered 10.63 points.

"[Kuzetsova] showed me a list of different combinations I could do and the amount of points and I [told her] I was thinking the exact same thing," Levito said. "I think I got a bit bored this season, and I wanted to do something more interesting. … I'm much happier and have been much more motivated to train because I have something fun to work toward."

Making her Worlds debut, Sarah Everhardt showed no sign of nerves, performing one of the cleanest programs of the event to "Reel Around the Sun" by Bill Whelan.

The Haymarket, Virginia native, who replaced Olympic champion Alysa Liu in the weeks leading up to Worlds, notched 68.74 points, less than half a point off her personal best. She placed ninth in the segment.

"I feel amazing, and I'm so happy to be here," Everhardt said. "This was kind of a gift given to me, and I think I was able to take that gift and show my best in the short, and I hope to do that in the free program."

She opened with a strong triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination that produced a program-high 11.53 points, followed by a solid triple loop. Her sprightly step sequence, complete with twizzles and two "falling leaf" split jumps, earned Level 3 and two of her spins gained Level 4.

At the end of the program, Everhardt breathed a big sigh of relief.

"I get nervous, and I just want to do well all the time," she said. "After every program, there's always a release, even at home."

Everhardt will perform her free skate from last season, "The Firebird."

"I enjoy that program," she said. "They told me to just try it out and to see how it feels, and I started skating and I started doing the choreo and I realized how much I love that program and I miss it. It just feels very me. So, I'm just excited to do 'Firebird.'"

Everhardt arrived having medaled at two Challenger Series events this season and having secured a top-five finish at the U.S. Championships. She is the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2025 bronze medalist and a two-time U.S. Championships medalist.

In pairs, Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe, fresh off their impressive seventh-place finish at the Milan Olympic Games, performed a compelling program to "Nyah" by CH2, gaining five Level 4s for well-executed pair elements including an opening triple twist and dramatic, flamenco-inspired step sequence. Although they lost ground on their side-by-side jumps when Chan doubled an intended triple toe loop, they earned a solid 69.02 points and sit in sixth place.

"We were happy [with the performance, but] I thought, yes, we want more points and we could get more points with our jumping pass," Akira Howe said. "Aside from that, I'm proud of Emily because all of the other elements, including the throws, were really strong."

"It's a testimony to the hard work we put in this season, to be able to come back here, getting a call just six days ago, and to be able to do that is pretty darn good," he added.

As an alternate to the World Team, Chan and Akira Howe kept sharp by participating in a couple of ice shows.

"We actually felt like it was a blessing in disguise for us," Akira Howe said of the late notification. "I think that everyone coming off the Olympics seemed pretty tired, and it makes total sense because it's such a high from the Games and then they know they are getting ready for Worlds. For us, we had some shows after the Olympics, so we stayed active. Though we weren't training necessarily, we were still moving. So when we got the call I felt like we kind of had the best of both worlds."

Performing a dramatic program to "Cloak and Dagger" by Eternal Eclipse, Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov opened with a solid triple twist but faltered on their next two elements, with Efimova underrotating a triple toe loop and putting her hands down on the landing of a throw triple loop. Their remaining elements, especially an elegant Axel lasso lift, were strong, and their 67.29 points put the two-time and reigning U.S. champions into seventh place.

"It wasn't the performance we wanted, but I'm proud of Alisa, because we fought through no matter what," Mitrofanov said. "Being able to see her face at the end, that's all I wanted to see. And just be like, 'All right, we are going to fight for tomorrow, no matter what."

"I feel disappointed that I was not in the right mental state," Efimova said. "For some reason I was slow. I tried my best today and unfortunately this is what it brought. But I'm still happy for the elements we did, because they felt like we did them as we were supposed to do."

Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman, the reigning U.S. bronze medalists, impressed with the speed and flow in their program to "Vale" by Christian Reindl, Lucie Paradis and Power-Haus. Their throw triple Lutz was well-landed, but the Irvine, California, based skaters lost several points when McBeath doubled a planned triple toe loop. They sit 11th and take 64.42 into the free skate.

"We had a lot of improvements on a lot of things," McBeath said. "However, my jump was a big error, so that was a bit unfortunate — a little bit of a human moment. The brain is an amazing thing. But we stayed connected, we stayed together. I think we did well on some of the elements that we needed to work on, so that's good, because it kept us up there, and we'll see how we can do tomorrow."

Competition resumes on Thursday with the men's short program followed by the pairs free skate. Ice dance kicks off Friday with the rhythm dance, followed by the women's free skate. The event wraps up Saturday with the men's free skate and free dance.

All events can be streamed live on Peacock and will be available for 72 hours following their conclusion. In addition, NBC and USA Network will broadcast the competition. To view the full TV schedule, visit the U.S. Figure Skating website.

For bios, news, results and more, visit the ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2026 Competition Central.