Competitors are not always rivals. Just ask the top American women’s figure skaters, Isabeau Levito and Amber Glenn.

Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding were infamous rivals.

Figure skating also saw the battle of the Brians (Boitano vs. Orser), the battle of the Carmens (Debi Thomas vs. Katerina Witt), and many other head-to-head matches.

But Isabeau Levito (2023 U.S. champion) vs. Amber Glenn (2024 U.S. champion)?

No, they’re friends.

They’re also the two U.S. women assigned to the World Figure Skating Championships from March 18-24 in Montreal.

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“Obviously, there is a large age gap here,” said Glenn, who is 24 to Levito’s 16. “When I was growing up, I was the newbie, and it was Ashley Wagner [and] Gracie Gold, and I was in the locker room. And not to say that it was aggressive, but they completely ignored each other. The media was pinning them against each other. It was just very hostile. I could feel that, and I could see it, and it was just very quiet.

“I’d always try and find someone in the locker room to talk to because I was nervous and I didn’t want to be in my own head. So that’s just kind of how it was for years and years. As I got older, I always was very social. I was homeschooled, so my only outlet was skating. And the only time I’d see people was at skating competitions.”

One day at a competition, Glenn borrowed Levito’s jacket. When she returned it, she also offered Levito, who lives in Mount Holly and trains in Mount Laurel, a pair of earrings she wouldn’t be wearing. Both had risen quickly through the ranks and made their marks on skating, so they understood each other.

But they were on different levels and rarely at events together until 2022, when they wound up on the podium together at Skate America, a Grand Prix competition. In 2023, they were among the skaters who won the gold medal for the United States at the World Team Trophy. A green frog Levito crocheted for Glenn made the rounds on social media. People were delighted to see competitors getting along.

And it got better. Both again were assigned to the 2023 Skate America. One day at practice, Glenn saw Levito land a jump and gave her props. Levito praised her right back at the press conference after the short program, in a moment that surprised and charmed skating fans.

“She is actually the most genuinely nice person you will ever meet,” Levito said on that video. “Everyone loves her — as they should.”

On a recent Zoom with Glenn, Levito explained: “I did the axel out of the transition in the run through during practice. I landed it, and I saw Amber skating behind me [gesturing in approval], because she knows how much I struggled with that entrance.”

A changing of the guard would not change that bond. At the U.S. Championships in January in Columbus, Ohio, Glenn knew she had a chance of winning. But the native Texan could be seen on TV cheering on her friend, who skated after her in the long program, and wincing when the reigning champion, Levito, faltered.

“There’s not many people that are doing this at this level,” Glenn said. “So being among people that, like, get that and [are] able to talk about it is awesome. Like, in a casual way, not like I get to talk about with my therapist, like a really casual, fun way. People that, just, they get it. It’s nice.

“I mean, we were still going out there and we want to do the best we can. Come on, let’s go! But it’s not ‘I hate her,’ you know, some Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan type.”

At March’s World Championships, it’ll be back to business: practicing, competing, and laying low in between. Off the ice, Levito probably will be crocheting or reading in her hotel room. Glenn likely will be playing Magic: The Gathering with a lighthearted TV show on in the background in hers. Both will rest and recover.

“I don’t really make plans with people when I go to events,” Levito said, “but they always have buffet meals at the events‚ and I hang around those [for] like the entirety that they’re open for because I’m just talking from one friend group to another group of people, and that’s how I get my social time in when I’m at competitions.”

» READ MORE: South Jersey’s Isabeau Levito falls to third at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Glenn agreed.

“When we’re there, it’s less of, ‘OK, we’re going to plan so and so and so,’ but ‘Hey, I’m going to the grocery store, do you need anything, do you want to come with?’ ” she said. “It’s more of that kind of vibe. Not like, we’re going to have girl time and hang out.”

They have individual goals as well as a shared one: to get a third woman back on the team at the 2025 World Championships. To do that, Levito and Glenn’s placements must add up to no higher than 13 in Montreal. (This also is why it is difficult for Russia that its skaters cannot compete. Once they are allowed back, they will only get one skater or team in each discipline the first year and will have to earn extra slots for future years.)

“I think both of us are just trying to go there and skate as cleanly as possible,” Glenn said. “We both have a difficult content and the skill level to do what it takes. And, honestly, I just want both of us to do as good as possible so we can get those slots back. If that’s Isabeau, I go, ‘Beat me by 20 points. You go get as high as you can — please!’ Going into this, it feels really like it’s going to be a team effort.”

» READ MORE: South Jersey’s Isabeau Levito is just 15 — and she’s already a U.S. figure skating champion. Next up, the world?

And if Levito regains her title at the 2025 U.S. Championships, Glenn said she would support that, too. She is happy to finally have her name in the books as a senior U.S. champion. (She was the junior champion in 2014, a title Levito held in 2021.) Instead, she wants to inspire each other to the biggest goal: the 2026 Winter Olympics.

“Let’s just keep pushing to try and, like, do our best and keep going,” Glenn said, “especially — and this wasn’t even something I thought about like a year ago — through Milan.”

The women’s short program will be broadcast at 1 p.m. March 21 on USA Network. It will stream at 4:05 p.m. March 20 on Peacock.

The women’s free skate, or long program, will be aired at 8 p.m. March 22 on USA. It will stream at 6 p.m. March 22 on Peacock.