Figure Skater Amber Glenn on the ‘Sacrifices’ Her Family Made on Her Journey to Grand Prix Champion: eBay Dresses, ‘Used Blades’

Amber Glenn has the right people behind her — forever and always.

The champion skater tells PEOPLE that her family’s support was “absolutely essential” to launching her figure skating career.

Glenn, 25, began skating two decades ago and has since grown into an international sensation, most recently winning the 2024 Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France, on December 7. The American figure skater is the first U.S. woman to accomplish the feat in 14 years. 

During the competition earlier this month, Glenn successfully performed a triple axel, her signature, as well as seven triple jumps. This gave her a 3-point lead over the competition.

Glenn is currently preparing for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January, Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in February and Figure Skating World Championships in March, which will conclude the ’24-’25 figure skating season.

She spoke with PEOPLE after a “long, long, long training day” with her dog Uki beside her, who was just as excited as ever to see Glenn.

Glenn doesn’t remember the exact age she began skating, but recalls that she “took to it immediately.” At first, skating was just a family activity with her cousins and sister in a mall in Texas.

“My aunt and my mom would go into the mall while the dads watched us skate,” Glenn recounts. “That was a very easy, convenient thing that they’re like, ‘It’s an activity that the kids will enjoy.’ ”

That “activity” has turned into something her parents “never could have imagined,” Glenn says.

Glenn had tried soccer before skating and found herself getting overheated, but on the ice rink, “it was a different change of pace” and “it was something I really loved,” she says.

Upon finishing beginner skating classes, Glenn had already caught a coach’s attention with her “natural talent,” she tells PEOPLE.

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“They went to my parents who were like, ‘Hey, she should do private lessons and really take this seriously?’ [They were told], ‘She could have a career in this,’ ” Glenn recalls of the conversation.

At this point, Glenn was only 7 years old and her parents, Richard and Cathlene, were taken aback: ” ‘Wow, okay. I guess we’re doing this.’ ” By the time Glenn was 8 years old, she was already competing on a national level. Admits Glenn, “It happened very quickly.”

The success didn’t come without sacrifice from her determined parents.

“My mom was a huge contributing factor to my success at a young age,” Glenn says. “Then, of course, my dad worked so, so hard to financially pay for it. I mean, getting into figure skating, I had no idea it was such a … It’s not a cheap sport. He worked so, so hard to be able to get the best opportunities for me.”

Her family made it work whether it was “by buying used blades” or “dresses off of eBay,” Glenn tells PEOPLE. “It’s an easy thing to put money into, but for us, we didn’t really have that.”

“There were a lot of sacrifices made growing up from my parents, even from my sister,” Glenn praises of her loved one’s support. “I would say my family have been absolutely essential for me, and their sacrifices, I will never be able to repay, but they’re so supportive and so proud of me.”

Glenn will next return to the rink when she competes at Nationals, which begin Jan. 20.