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MILAN — Amber Glenn, red-rimmed and glassy-eyed, finished a layback spin with her chest folded parallel to the ice and her shoulders trembling slightly. With his head bowed and the side braid of his long blonde half-ponytail hanging around his neck, Glenn took a deep, shaky breath and allowed himself some privacy.

Or as a private moment when an Olympic figure skater can stand on the world’s biggest stage, the packed Milan Ice Skating Arena.

Glenn, who made headlines in Italy last week even before his performance by saying it was a “tough time” for the LGBTQ+ community, didn’t do well on Sunday night. Glenn, who is expected to win an individual medal for the United States, placed third in the women’s singles free skate. She struggled through the first half of the program and seemed uncomfortable throughout, then experienced a series of conflicting emotions in the hours leading up to the U.S. team gold medal.

Disappointment with yourself. Guilt for putting Ilia Marinin, the unparalleled quad god, in a position where he had to win in the men’s singles to avoid upsetting the United States.

Glenn was impressed with his teammates’ efforts and was honest about not feeling well Sunday night. She was also surprised by the amount of reaction she received on social media when she answered questions about how the LGBTQ+ community is being treated under President Donald Trump.

Glenn, a member of the community, said he had received death threats, but had never received so many hurtful comments online.

“I couldn’t believe I was just supporting people and I was getting so much backlash,” she said. “And of course I have people who support me and I can’t go online right now because of that. But I’m going to continue to speak my truth. I’m going to continue to express what I believe and what I think all Americans believe is that we should be free and be able to love what we want and do what we want to do. So I just hope that we can continue to move forward and stay positive.”

Glenn, who previously said he wanted to use his platform to encourage people to “stay strong even in difficult times,” posted on his Instagram Story on Saturday that he was taking a break from social media due to the backlash. She said Sunday she doesn’t think this will affect her performance.

A few years ago, Glenn also opened up about his struggle with anxiety and the importance of mental health, but he may not have been able to separate the two so neatly.

“I just didn’t feel good,” Glenn said of his skating and his initial teary-eyed reaction on the ice. “And there was a lot of disappointment in my feelings. Of course, looking back, I’m proud that I was able to fight my way through the program. It shows how much I’ve grown mentally. I just didn’t feel my best physically there.”

Glenn’s program, which featured music aptly titled “I Will Find You, The Return,” wasn’t a complete disaster. Wearing a shimmering navy one-shoulder dress, Glenn landed the opening triple axel and stayed upright despite not landing cleanly.

Her score of 138.62 was enough to keep America even with Japan, 10 points behind Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto. He handed the proverbial baton to Malinin, who completed five quadruple jumps to win the gold medal.

Glenn scored a 150.50 in the free skate at the world championships just a few weeks ago, but he will need to improve even more when the individual competition begins. It would be even better if she could get a chance to end an individual Olympic medal drought that has stretched American women to 20 years (and another four years to win gold).

At 26, Glenn is the oldest U.S. Olympic single skater in nearly 100 years. She also has one of the best shots on the team to win a medal. She is one of the few female skaters to consistently land the triple axel, widely considered the most difficult triple jump in women’s skating. Her great athleticism and recent dominance on the international circuit means she enters Milan in good shape.

Last month, Glenn became the first woman since Michelle Kwan to win three consecutive U.S. titles. Glenn said her practice this week was great. Whether she can translate that to the big stage remains to be seen.

On Sunday, Glenn’s teammates came to pick her up. She then literally held Malinin in her arms in celebration and stood next to him as the American flag was raised in the rafters and sang the national anthem.

Glenn also said he was proud to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” even if he didn’t particularly like his voice. If Italy ends up with more medals around her neck, she’ll deal with it.

Just like Glenn deals with his critics by doing the same thing he always does: continuing to support what he believes in.

“It’s completely unreasonable to attack people online for expressing their opinions, which is their (First Amendment) right, so I just hope that we can be proactive and support our team athletes going forward,” she said.

“I’m always going to speak my truth.”