One fall sent Isabeau Levito tumbling in the wrong direction.
The Mount Holly, N.J., native fell on a triple flip on the opening jump of her free skate Thursday at the 2026 Winter Olympics, and the mistake cost her about nine points, ending any longshot hope that she could climb from eighth place and steal a spot on the women’s figure-skating podium.
Levito, 18, recovered to look graceful and light on her feet in a sky-blue costume through the rest of her program, but the damage had already been done. Her 131.96 long-program score pushed her combined score to 202.80 and left her in sixth place – far behind temporary leading American teammate Amber Glenn – with seven skaters remaining.
Levito did not add a triple jump into the four-minute program as some skaters did when trying to make up lost points.
The 2023 national champion, as a 15-year-old phenom, also was a silver medalist at the 2024 World Championships. She was coming off a bronze at the nationals last month.
2026 WINTER OLYMPICS
While one of her American teammates (Glenn) was seeking redemption for her stunning technical mistake in the short program and the other (Alyssa Liu) was on a pressure-packed quest to keep (or improve) her place on the podium after finishing third in the short program, Levito was the picture of fun. But even she could not hide the disappointment on her face after falling because her arms overextended.
Levito joked earlier this week that the Olympic village is her new residence.
“I’ve spent every night in the village,” Levito said. “It’s been everything and more. And you can’t evict me.”