Amber Glenn is the sixth woman to land a triple axel in Winter Olympic competition, helping Team USA win the gold medal in the team event. She is also an openly queer athlete and self-professed nerd, whose favorite brand of nerddom is Magic: The Gathering.
The Olympic gold medalist who plays Commander
Glenn recorded a profile video ahead of the Winter Olympics, and in it, she spoke about her mental health journey. As part of that journey, she explained how important it was to her to have hobbies outside of the sport that takes up most of her life.
"Prioritizing my mental health outside of the sport is crucial and not forgetting that I'm a whole person," she said. "I have hobbies. I have people I love outside of the sport. No matter how I perform."
She showed off what is likely a fraction of the cards she owns, saying, "These are Magic: The Gathering cards. I didn't bring my super fancy ones because they are my prized possessions and I don't want to lose them."
"[Magic] is a battle-based game kind of to do with different planes of existence and realms, and you usually play against a couple other people. I go to local game stores and play. I know it's nerdy but it's my hobby, and I enjoy it," Glenn said in the video.
Her description of the game made it clear to Magic fans that the figure skater plays Commander, which many agree is one of the most challenging formats of the game. Fans took to social media to express their appreciation.
Her Olympic profile and spotlights highlighted her Magic hobby
Glenn’s official Team USA Olympic profile even listed Magic as a hobby. Notably, it mentioned her dog Uki, whose name came from Ukkima, Stalking Shadow, a blue-black "whale wolf" card. The figure skater explained in an interview that the name suited him because he is a Schipperke, which is small, black, and wolfish.
A Team USA "Day in the Life" video from December shared not only her typical daily routine as an athlete, but also a trip to her Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS) to pick up several boxes of Magic's Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover set.
She's also introduced fellow Team USA figure skater Alysa Liu to the hobby. Liu shared a video of her pulling cards from her first-ever set to her Instagram story, and one of the cards had Glenn breaking down in bemused surprise. She wrote, "[Me] in real-time reaction to seeing Alysa pull a top chase card in her first-ever pack."
The card in question was a borderless Y’shtola card, which is currently selling for $119.30.
Glenn next competes in the Olympics on Feb 17 in the women’s short program.
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