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Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid will miss the team’s first game back after the All-Star break against the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday due to an issue with his shin, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reported. Embiid will be re-evaluated before the team’s following game Saturday.

Embiid has appeared in just 31 games this season, but has looked good when he’s been able to play. His average is back up to over 26 points per game after averaging 23.8 points last season in only 19 games. The Sixers are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 30-24.

In his last 10 games leading up to the All-Star break, Embiid really seemed to hit his stride, averaging 33.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. During that span, Embiid shot 52.9% from 3-point range and 86.9% from the free throw line. More importantly, Philly went 7-3 in that stretch.

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With Embiid’s injury history, any time he misses is always concerning. Before playing in 19 games last season, he played 39 the year before that. During his MVP campaign of 2022-23, Embiid missed 16 games, appearing in 66, which were the second most of his career. The previous year, Embiid played in 68 games for Philadelphia.

Despite all the injuries, Embiid is still considered one of the best centers in basketball when healthy. At this point, the Sixers and the fan base know Embiid is going to miss some time each year. For Philadelphia, it’s about having him healthy in April and May as it attempts to make a title run. The Sixers have never advanced beyond the Eastern Conference semifinals during Embiid’s tenure with the franchise.

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Philly and Atlanta tipoff at 7 p.m. ET Thursday from Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.

Mick Cronin wasn’t going to let officials have the chance to eject center Steven Jamerson II on Tuesday night.

Instead, he did it himself.

The UCLA head coach threw his own player out of the Bruins’ blowout 82-59 loss at No. 15 Michigan State on Tuesday after he picked up a technical foul.

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With about four minutes to go at the Breslin Center, Jamerson came from behind and fouled Michigan State center Carson Cooper as he went up for a breakaway dunk. Jamerson hammered Cooper, and sent him down to the court awkwardly. Cooper jumped up immediately and squared up with Jamerson under the rim before the two were separated without issue.

After seeing the incident with his team down by almost 30 points at the time, Cronin called Jamerson over to the bench, grabbed him by his jersey and started walking him off the floor while pointing to the locker room. Jamerson didn’t protest much, and jogged to the tunnel.

“I guess he upgraded that to a flagrant 2, huh? That’s the first time I’ve saw a coach do that,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “That sounded like Mick, he’ll get that straightened out.

Jamerson finished with two points and two rebounds in eight minutes. The senior has averaged 2.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per game this season in his first year with the Bruins. Before UCLA, Jamerson played for three seasons at San Diego after spending his first year of college as a student at Michigan State. He attempted to be a walk-on for the Spartans and a manager that season, but Izzo said on his pregame radio show that he didn’t have much of a recollection of Jamerson.

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Both Jamerson and Cooper were assessed technical fouls for the play, and Cooper split his free throws for the original foul on the dunk attempt. That put Michigan State up by 28.

Jeremy Fears led Michigan State with 16 points and 10 assists in the win. The Spartans led nearly the entire way, and entered halftime with a 20-point lead despite not scoring in the final two minutes of the period. Coen Carr added 16 points and Cooper finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. They shot 52% from the 3-point line, and outrebounded UCLA by 10.

After the game, Cronin was in a bad mood. He chastised a reporter for asking a question about the Michigan State student section and then asked if the reporter was raising his voice at him.

As for the ejection, Cronin said he was “thoroughly disappointed” in Jamerson.

“You know, true toughness is how you compete and how you go to work every day. Steve’s a good kid. He made a bad decision,” Cronin said, via ESPN. “But if you want to be a tough guy, you need to do it during the game, for a blockout, for a rebound.

“So, I was thoroughly disappointed; the guy was defenseless in the air. I know Steve was trying to block the shot, but the game’s a 25-point game. You don’t do that.”

The win came amid a rough stretch for Michigan State. The Spartans have lost three of their last five, including at unranked Minnesota and a 21-point loss at Wisconsin. They now sit at 21-5 on the season and third in the Big Ten race.

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Tyler Bilodeau led UCLA with 22 points and six rebounds. Skyy Clark was the only other Bruins player to hit double figures with his 12 points off the bench. The loss dropped the Bruins to 17-9 this season as they try to hang on for an NCAA tournament bid. It marked their second straight blowout loss, too, after a 30-point loss at Michigan just days earlier.

Cronin is in his sixth season with the Bruins, who opened the season at No. 12 in the national rankings before falling out completely. He holds a 155-73 record with the Bruins, whom he led to a Final Four in his second campaign in Southern California.

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The Bruins will host No. 10 Illinois next on Saturday. Jamerson’s status for that contest at Pauley Pavilion, after Tuesday’s incident in East Lansing, is unknown.

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Andrew Siciliano deep dives on the 2026 NFL Draft with Nate Tice & ESPN’s Matt Miller. Andrew kicks things off with Nate Tice as they parse through Nate & Charles McDonald’s latest mock draft and cover a few of the more interesting selections, including EDGE Rueben Bain Jr. going second overall to the New York Jets, RB Jeremiyah Love in the top ten, EDGE David Bailey to the Washington Commanders and more. Next, Andrew & Nate set their sites on Indianapolis for the NFL Combine as Nate gives his top prospects he’s most excited to watch test next week.

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Later, Andrew is joined by ESPN’s Matt Miller to get his thoughts on the draft (including Ty Simpson, Caleb Downs and more) before talking through his latest NFL mock draft.

(6:55) – Nate Tice breaks down latest NFL mock draft

(21:55) – Nate’s top prospects to watch at the NFL Combine

(44:00) – Matt Miller talks latest NFL mock draft

Inside Coverage would be nothing without the impact of our beloved Terez Paylor, who was a pillar of Yahoo Sports’ NFL editorial and podcast coverage. We will continue to produce this NFL podcast in his honor, and hope that you can support Terez Paylor’s legacy in one of three ways:

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An Iowa fan and his phone got up close and personal with Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg on Tuesday night.

Hoiberg was not having it. He smacked the phone out of the fan’s hand as Iowa fans rushed the court during the postgame handshake line. He also inadvertently smacked an Iowa staffer in the back of his head on his follow-through. Hoiberg and the Iowa staffer quickly made nice.

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Video from the stands captured the incident.

The fan whose phone got smacked captured first-person footage.

The unidentified fan — or someone nearby — screamed, “Nice game, buddy!” in Hoiberg’s face just prior to the smack.

Hoiberg’s Cornhuskers were fresh off a 57-52 loss to the Hawkeyes. It was their fourth loss in six games following a 20-0 start. He was in no mood to be taunted.

Iowa, Big Ten respond: No discipline for Hoiberg

Iowa released a statement Wednesday afternoon addressing the court storm and the fan.

“Unfortunately, an individual gained access to the court through a restricted area, directly confronting Coach Hoiberg and putting Nebraska players, coaches and staff in a reactive situation,” the statement reads.

“We apologize for this incident and will conduct a review of our procedures and security measures to determine what adjustments may be needed to further strengthen our protocols and help prevent similar incidents in the future.”

The Big Ten issued a statement in response to Iowa’s announcing that it will not discipline Hoiberg for the phone smack.

“The conference has discussed the situation with both institutions, is taking no action in relation to Coach Hoiberg, and appreciates the efforts by Iowa’s administration to address postgame security protocols in the interest of preventing a similar occurrence from happening in the future,” the statement reads.

Nebraska did not publicly address the incident and previously directed questioning regarding it to the Big Ten.

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More court-storming drama

Tuesday’s court storm was the latest to raise the ire of a prominent head coach.

Duke head coach Jon Scheyer claimed after a last-second road loss to rival North Carolina on Feb. 7 that a member of his coaching staff “got punched in the face” in the ensuing court storm, leaving him with a bloody lip.

There’s so far been no footage or evidence to confirm Scheyer’s account, prompting Orange County District Attorney Jeff Nieman — a UNC graduate — to dispute Scheyer’s claim.

Tempers are flaring across college basketball, and it’s not even March yet.

The Milan Cortina Olympics had a bit of everything Wednesday: redemption for a U.S. skiing great, inspiration from a relentless American snowboarder, more cross-country skiing history, a men’s hockey quarterfinals to remember, another Olympic proposal and a dog making a tension-breaking cameo.

Here are five of the top stories from Day 12 of the Winter Games:

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Mikaela Shiffrin ends Olympic medal drought, dominates for gold in slalom

Mikaela Shiffrin exorcised her recent Olympic demons on Wednesday in Cortina with a redemptive gold medal in the women’s slalom.

Shiffrin came into this year’s Games with more World Cup wins than any other skier, male or female, period. But she still arrived in Italy with something to prove because, after scattering two golds and a silver across her first two Olympics — Sochi in 2014 and PyeongChang in 2018 — she didn’t medal in Beijing four years ago. In fact, she didn’t even finish three of her events during the 2022 Games. Then, this year, she struggled in the women’s team combined event, failing to reach the podium even after teammate Breezy Johnson established a lead in the downhill portion of the competition. Just three days ago, Shiffrin finished 11th in the giant slalom.

Flash forward to Wednesday, and Shiffrin zoomed to the bottom of the mountain and back to the top of the skiing world when she crushed the field with a pair of legacy-defining runs. Shiffrin recorded the fastest time in her first run. After watching skiers ahead of her spin out or DQ, she maintained an even keel and stayed aggressive amid her second run, transforming her already significant 0.82-second lead into a 1.5-second domination. That margin of victory, according to NBC’s Nick Zaccardi, is the largest in any Olympic Alpine skiing event since 1998. The monkey is off Shiffrin’s back, and the gold is once again around her neck. She’s the first American woman skier to win three Olympic gold medals, and she now holds titles as both the youngest and oldest American woman to win Alpine gold. She was 18 in 2014. She’s 30 in these Games.

U.S. and Canada men’s hockey both need OT to advance to semifinals

Quinn Hughes of the Minnesota Wild lit the lamp three-plus minutes into 3-on-3 overtime to push Team USA past Sweden 2-1 and into the men’s hockey semifinals. The Americans needed overtime because Sweden’s Mika Zibanejad slapped a shot by U.S. netminder Connor Hellebuyck for the game-tying goal with 91 seconds left in regulation. The Swedes provided a stiff, NHL-themed test. The Americans passed, albeit in OT. They’ll now play Slovakia in the semis.

Earlier in the day, Canada booked its spot in the semifinals, but only after it outlasted Czechia in overtime. The Canadians were down 2-1 after the first period, marking the first time Team Canada had trailed in the Olympics with NHL players since 2010, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo. Then, with less than eight minutes to go in the third period, Ondřej Palát scored to put Czechia up 3-2. Fortunately for Canada, Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki saved the nation from the embarrassment of an early exit with a deflected goal. Mitch Marner completed the comeback, scoring less than two minutes into OT with a backhand winner.

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Team Canada didn’t make it out unscathed. It lost captain Sidney Crosby to a lower-body injury. The Canadians will play Finland next, as the U.S. and Canada continue on a collision course for a gold-medal final.

Team USA earns silver in cross-country team sprint, but Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo joins rare air with 10th gold

This sounds like a broken record, but Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo just broke another Winter Games record. In the men’s cross-country skiing team sprint on Wednesday, the 29-year-old Klaebo and his Norwegian teammate, Einar Hedegart, took gold. Klaebo now has five gold medals at this year’s Games, and a record-breaking 10 overall at the Winter Games. He joins Michael Phelps as the only athletes to collect at least 10 Olympic golds. Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, has 23 golds, eight of which he won during the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

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The American men gave Klaebo and Hedegart a run for their money. In fact, Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher finished only 1.4 seconds behind them for the silver. Schumacher made a push, however, Klaebo preserved Norway’s lead on the final hill.

Last week, Ogden became the first U.S. men’s cross-country skier to medal since 1976, with a silver in the cross-country sprint. Now he has two Olympic medals. Schumacher has his first.

As for Klaebo, he can go 6-for-6 at these Games with a gold on Saturday in the 50-kilometer mass start. If he accomplishes that feat, he’ll accompany swimmers Phelps, Mark Spitz and Kristin Otto, plus gymnast Vitaly Scherbo, as Olympians with at least six gold medals at a single Games, per ESPN.

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U.S. snowboarder Jake Canter rides to bronze in slopestyle nine years after suffering life-threatening brain injury

The triumphant and celebratory words that burst from the mouth of a fiery Jake Canter — “Let’s go! Come on!” — were laced with relentless passion. He had just stuck the landing on his final run of the men’s snowboard slopestyle Wednesday in Italy, where he eventually won bronze after sweating out the rest of the field as he clung to a top-three finish.

The 22-year-old Colorado native took home the Aspen World Cup in January, and now he’s an Olympic medalist nine years after suffering a traumatic brain injury that put him in a coma for four days when he was just 13. That life-threatening injury took place on a trampoline at an action-sports camp, as reported by The Associated Press. He was kicked in the head. It was a freak accident. Six months later, he reportedly ended up in another four-day coma, that time because of meningitis. The surgery he needed called for him to learn how to walk and talk again.

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“I really just hope I made 13-year-old me lying in that hospital bed proud,” Canter said, per the AP. “This is for him and everyone who supported me.”

In his Olympic debut, Canter delivered Team USA’s first men’s snowboard slopestyle medal since 2018, thanks to a gutsy, rotation-filled spin on his final jump.

U.S. curling has a rough day: Women can still make playoffs, but men need some help

Team USA has cooled off in curling of late. The American women missed a chance to put themselves in the playoffs on Wednesday when they let a game against Great Britain slip through their grasp in the 10th end. The U.S. women’s team was a point away from reaching the medal round. But an incredible throw by skip Rebecca Morrison helped Great Britain steal two and win 8-7.

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The American women are 5-3 in round-robin competition. A win over 6-2 Switzerland or a Great Britain loss to 2-6 Italy would clinch the U.S. women a spot in the four-team playoff field. There are more complicated ways for them to reach the semifinals, too, but those are the most clear-cut paths.

The U.S. men’s curling team technically can make the playoff as well. It’s going to need a lot more to go right, though. The American men followed three consecutive wins — and a 4-2 start — with three straight losses to end round-robin play, including a lopsided defeat that the U.S. men conceded to Great Britain 9-2 on Wednesday. The young group needs Italy (4-4), Norway (4-4) and Germany (3-5) all to lose Thursday. That would force a tiebreaker the American men would own over Italy and Norway.

Highlight of the day

Hilary Knight, a linchpin of the gold-medal-contending U.S. women’s hockey team, proposed to American speedskater Brittany Bowe this week. The couple connected at the 2022 Games in Beijing.

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“Olympics brought us together. This one made us forever,” Knight wrote in her Instagram caption on Wednesday.

Knight, 36, has won four Olympic medals — three silvers and a gold — and Bowe, 37, has two bronzes to her name. This is their last Olympics.

Medals are being handed out in Italy, and so are rings. This isn’t the first proposal of these Games.

Perhaps most notably, after U.S. downhill skiing gold medalist Breezy Johnson crashed out of the women’s super-G last week, she got engaged to her boyfriend, Connor Watkins.

Others have agreed to tie the knot, too.

One more thing

Dogs are fun-loving creatures that just keep on giving — not only love but also iconic moments. Another was on display Wednesday during a qualifying round of the women’s cross-country team sprint.

A 2-year-old Czechoslovakian wolfdog named Nazgul was seen running alongside skiers and even racing past the finish line. He reportedly is local and had escaped from his owner before embarking on a journey that made headlines everywhere.

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Nazgul was eventually returned to his owner with a tale that will have other pups wagging their tails.

One day after Tony Clark’s surprise resignation amid a reported inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, the Major League Baseball Players Association elected Bruce Meyer as its interim executive director, the union announced Wednesday.

The vote was reportedly unanimous for Meyer, who was previously serving as deputy executive director. Matt Nussbaum, the union’s general counsel, was promoted to interim deputy executive director.

Meyer was the natural choice, as Clark’s No. 2 and the union’s lead negotiator with MLB. He spoke earlier Wednesday about the importance of the union remaining united in the wake of Clark’s ouster.

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According to ESPN’s Passan, Clark resigned on the heels of an internal investigation that revealed an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, who worked for the union beginning in 2023. The union held an emergency meeting Tuesday afternoon but did not vote on an executive director until Wednesday.

The news comes less than 10 months before the current CBA is set to expire on Dec. 1. The union and MLB owners are expected to engage in a furious labor battle ahead of a new CBA, which many expect could lead to a lockout extending into the 2027 MLB season. There is speculation that the owners will push hard for a salary cap, something the players have opposed for years.

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Meyer joined the MLBPA in 2018 and played a central role in the previous CBA negotiation as well as the 2020 agreement to play baseball amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This election confirms he’ll be at the table for the upcoming negotiation.

Clark also played a role in helping negotiate previous CBAs for the players. He reportedly took an active part in negotiations as a player before being hired by the MLBPA in 2010. He was initially a director of player relations before he was hired as the union’s executive director in 2013. He oversaw negotiations ahead of the 2016 CBA and the contentious 2022 lockout, which resulted in Opening Day being postponed by a week as negotiations extended into March.

SURPRISE, Ariz. — In the first public comments from the MLB Players Association since the shocking and sudden resignation of executive director Tony Clark and hours before he was unanimously elected as the union’s interim executive director, Bruce Meyer emphasized Wednesday that the unforeseen change in leadership will not impact the upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations with MLB’s team owners.

“The Executive Board has been in discussions … to determine the future leadership of the union,” Meyer said. “But regardless, we have people on staff, including myself and others — former players, lawyers — who have been here for a long time. We don’t expect anything to change in terms of bargaining. We’ve been preparing for bargaining for years. Players have been preparing. Players know what’s coming.

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“At the end of the day, leadership is important, and leadership comes and goes, but what remains is the players,” he continued. “At the end of the day, it’s the players who determine the direction of the union.”

Clark, the former All-Star first baseman who had been in the executive director role since taking over for Michael Weiner in 2013, resigned Tuesday as a result of revelations that he had an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, who also worked for the union. Clark was already the subject of a federal investigation involving potential financial misconduct related to business dealings tied to the union, and the relationship was uncovered as part of an internal inquiry into those matters.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday at the Kansas City Royals’ spring training complex after the MLBPA met with Royals players as part of their annual tour of Cactus and Grapefruit League camps, Meyer emphasized how quickly the situation has developed and how player leadership responded.

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“The information that really led to this came out within the last 72 hours or so. So this is not something that has been sat on,” he said. “When the information came out, the players on the subcommittee made their feelings known. And Tony, to his credit, he’s always been about players first. And Tony decided to take the action he did in the interest of the players.”

This chaotic sequence just days before spring training games begin has left the MLBPA in a perceived state of disarray, but Meyer insisted that these recent events do not meaningfully alter the union’s focus or mission entering the season.

“Anybody who is gonna assume that and act on that is really making a mistake,” he said. “I’m not going to say this is, you know, a great thing. This is unforeseen. … I’m not going to say this is like a nothing and that there’s not going to be some disruptions. But again, at the end of the day, bargaining is the most important thing. It’s always been the most important thing. Our team that’s been preparing for that for years remains in place. Players have been getting educated on the issues that are going to come up for years. And so it’s not going to affect it in any respect.”

With Clark’s resignation, the members of the MLBPA’s executive subcommittee — Marcus Semien, Chris Bassitt, Jake Cronenworth, Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal, Brent Suter, Pete Fairbanks and Cedric Mullins — became the leading figures in the pivotal task of identifying an interim executive director entering the final year of the current CBA.

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“We’re all fairly devastated by things that happened in the last 48-72 hours,” Meyer said of Clark’s sudden departure. “… But I think that this was something that the players determined had to happen at this particular point in time. We’ll move forward and be strong as we always are.”

Meyer, the former deputy executive director, was considered the top candidate to succeed Clark, but he said repeatedly Wednesday morning that choosing the next executive director would be entirely up to the players, and it would take more than just the eight subcommittee members to determine a successor. Indeed, the 72 players on the union executive board voted later Wednesday to elect Meyer in an interim capacity.

“Major league bargaining agreement, that’s just the major leaguers. Minor league bargaining agreement, that’s just the minor leaguers,” Meyer said. “Something like this, which affects the leadership of the union — our executive committee consists of 72 members, 38 of whom are major leaguers, 34 of whom are minor leaguers — the entire executive board will be voting.”

With Meyer taking the reins, he will be tasked with navigating what is expected to be a highly contentious round of CBA negotiations. Meyer said he expects to maintain his role as lead negotiator, and as interim executive director, he will become a central figure in the upcoming labor battle, a surprising main character at a crucial crossroads in baseball history.

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Prior to Wednesday’s vote, Meyer made clear his confidence that the union remains in a strong position to take on the fight ahead.

“At the end of the day, our union is strong and always has been strong because of the solidarity of our members, of our players,” he said. “That is going to continue. As I’ve said in the past: Anybody who underestimates the strength and solidarity of the MLB Players Association does so at their peril.”

Mike Wagner, a former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back who played a significant role in the franchise’s Steel Curtain dynasty, has died at 76, the franchise announced Wednesday.

No cause of death was provided. Steelers owner Art Rooney II provided the following statement about Wagner’s contributions to the team:

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mike Wagner, a tremendous player and an integral part of some of the most successful teams in Pittsburgh Steelers history.

Mike played a key role on our championship teams of the 1970s. As a member of four Super Bowl-winning teams, his toughness and consistency were paramount to our secondary. His contributions on the field were significant, but it was also his steady presence and team-first mentality that truly defined him.

On behalf of the entire Pittsburgh Steelers organization, we extend our heartfelt condolences to Mike’s family. He will always be remembered as a champion, a great teammate, and a proud member of the Steelers family.

The Steelers drafted Wagner, an NAIA All-American at Western Illinois, in the 11th round of the 1971 NFL Draft, as the 268th overall pick.

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As he recounted in a profile with his fraternity, Wagner didn’t make the varsity team until his junior year of high school, saw little interest from college football programs and only made the WIU team after requesting a tryout from the school’s head coach in late September. He balanced his football career with a job waiting tables.

Once he reached the Steelers in 1971, he got a starting safety job as a rookie after an injury opened up a spot. Over the next 10 seasons, he would notch 36 interceptions and earn two Pro Bowl nods while starting for all four Super Bowl teams.

Wagner caught the game-sealing interception against Fran Tarkenton and the Minnesota Vikings in the Steeler’s first title game at Super Bowl IX, then recorded another big interception against the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl X, as the Steelers’ website explains:

Early in Super Bowl X, Roger Staubach hit Drew Pearson, coming across the middle, for a 29-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The Cowboys called the play again in the second half, and Mike Wagner stepped in for an interception that led to a field goal in what became a 21-17 Steelers win. “Wagner gambled and won,” said Staubach. “I didn’t see him.”

Wagner retired in 1981 after 10 seasons with Pittsburgh. He was inducted into its Hall of Honor in 2020 and remained in the area for the rest of his life.

There’s no pressure in sports like Olympic pressure, as years of preparation culminate in a performance that can last a matter of minutes or even seconds and where one small misstep can crush an athlete’s dreams.

If one falls short of his or her goals, he or she may not face another shot at achieving them four grueling years later.

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Few sports in the Games embody that pressure like figure skating, where athletes jump, spin and glide across ice on a blade with all eyes in the arena and millions more from around the world watching on TV. Missteps await at every turn.

Amber Glenn’s ‘soul-crushing’ short program

U.S. skater Amber Glenn experienced such a misstep Tuesday night. A technical mistake in her short program tanked her score, threatening to shatter her Olympic dreams and leaving her in tears after her program.

It wasn’t a glaring gaffe or a fall that left her sprawled on the ice. Instead of a planned triple loop, she executed a double. And that was enough to invalidate the element and erase all seven potential points that came with it.

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That dropped her from likely medal contention and expectations all the way down to 13th place, leaving her in need of perfection in Thursday’s free skate and a lot of mistakes by skaters ahead of her to return to contention.

Glenn knew the ramifications as soon as she landed the double, which arrived toward the end of her routine. Her face and her body language told the story as the energy and joy that marked the start of her skate was gone.

When she was done, she broke into tears on the ice and reached out for a consoling hug from her coach.

Glenn opens up

On Wednesday, Glenn returned to the ice to practice for Thursday’s free skate. And after bypassing media availability in the painful aftermath of her skate, she explained to reporters what Tuesday night felt like to her.

“I have always been known to wear my heart on my sleeve, which is what makes me relatable, but it also makes it hard for me to hide how I feel,” Glenn told reporters, per Time. “And in that moment, it was soul-crushing. Because I did the hard stuff, and it was the easiest thing, my favorite jump, that just got away from me.”

Glenn then appeared to reference a moment in men’s downhill skiing Monday when gold medal contender Atle Lie McGrath missed a slalom gate and was immediately disqualified on his second of two runs. He responded by throwing his poles, taking off his skis and walking off the course to the adjacent woods.

“You can’t fix it,” Glenn continued. ” I didn’t get to skate off like I see in other sports, where you make a mistake and you’re done and you just kind of [go] off into the woods.

“I wish I could do that. But they expect you to smile, and they expect you to still perform, like you’re having the time of your life, when in reality your dreams were just smashed to pieces.”

Glenn doesn’t blame Olympic pressure

Glenn said that her mistake was not a product of Olympic pressure. Sometimes things just happen, she explained.

“It wasn’t the pressure that got to me, it was just a literal lack of balance,” Glenn said. “Like, I just kind of, like, lost my balance for a second. And, you know, stuff happens.”

Glenn is a vocal mental health advocate who’s spoken candidly about her struggles with depression and anxiety. She doesn’t conceal her feelings. To those familiar with her story, it was no surprise to see her wear her emotions on her sleeve Tuesday night.

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She said Wednesday it wasn’t the realization that her Olympic medal hopes were reduced to a long shot that upset her. It was that she lost the joy of skating on Olympic ice after her fateful double loop.

Glenn intends to regain ‘happiness’ in free skate

Medal shot or not, regaining that joy of skating on Olympic ice is Glenn’s goal for Thursday’s free skate.

“I was devastated because I lost the happiness and the enjoyment that I wanted to have out there on the ice to say, ‘I fought for everything, I did everything I could,’” Glenn said. “That’s what I truly wanted, and that’s what I missed out on.

“So that’s what I’m hoping to do tomorrow. When I was little, I always imagined me doing a spiral and looking up and being like, ‘I’m at the Olympics.’ That’s what I want.”