Mariah Bell
Bell at the2019 Internationaux de France medal ceremony
Full name	Mariah Cheyenne Bell
Born	(1996-04-18)April 18, 1996 (age 28) Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Hometown	Westminster, Colorado, U.S.
Height	5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
Figure skating career
Country	United States
Skating club	Rocky Mountain FSC
Began skating	2000
Retired	October 12, 2022
Medal record Figure skating:Ladies' singles Representingthe United States World Team Trophy 2019 Fukuoka Team

Mariah Cheyenne Bell (born April 18, 1996) is an American former competitivefigure skater. She is the2022 U.S. national champion,2020 U.S. national silver medalist, and two-timeU.S. national bronze medalist (2017,2019). She is also the2020 Skate America gold medalist,2016 Skate America silver medalist, the 2019Internationaux de France bronze medalist, the2019 Rostelecom Cup bronze medalist, the2019 CS Nebelhorn Trophy champion, and the2016 CS U.S. International Classic silver medalist.

Bell finished within the top six at fourISU Championships, with her best result being fourth place at the2022 World Figure Skating Championships and represented the United States at the2022 Winter Olympics.

Mariah Bell was born on April 18, 1996, inTulsa, Oklahoma.^[2] She is the second child of Kendra and Andy Bell.^[3] Her older sister, Morgan, has skated with Disney on Ice.^[4][5]

At age 12, Bell moved with her mother and sister fromHouston toWestminster, Colorado.^[6] She graduated fromRalston Valley High School in 2014,^[6] and was named the school's Super Senior.^[3]

Bell began skating at the age of four because of her sister.^[4] Early in her career; she was coached by Megan Faulkner, Billy Schneider, and Candy Brown.^[7][3] At age 12, she joined Cindy Sullivan inWestminster, Colorado.^[6]

Bell finished fifth in the junior division at the2012 U.S. Championships.^[8] She was assigned to the2012 Gardena Spring Trophy and won the junior silver medal.^[9]

Bell won the silver medal in the junior division of the2013 U.S. Championships, behindPolina Edmunds.^[10]

During the 2013–14 season, Bell was coached by Cindy Sullivan inWestminster, Colorado.^[7] Making herISU Junior Grand Prix debut, she won a bronze medal inMexico^[11] and finished seventh inPoland.^[12] At the2014 U.S. Championships, Bell finished thirteenth.^[13] Soon after her high school graduation in 2014, she moved toMonument, Colorado so that she could train under Kori Ade.^[5]

Bell's senior international debut came in the 2014–15 season. She competed at twoISU Challenger Series events, the2014 Nebelhorn Trophy where she finished fifth,^[14] and the2014 Golden Spin of Zagreb where she placed eighth.^[15] She finished sixth at the2015 U.S. Championships, having ranked twelfth in the short program and 6th in the free skate.

In 2015–16, Bell started her season on theISU Challenger Series (CS), placing sixth at the2015 U.S. International Classic and 13th at the2015 Ondrej Nepela Trophy.

Making herGrand Prix debut, Bell finished 8th at2015 Skate America, scoring personal bests in the free skate and combined total score. She placed eleventh at the2016 U.S. Championships.

Bell changed coaches in August 2016, joiningRafael Arutyunyan inLakewood, California.^[16][17] She landed on the podium at two of her2016–17 ISU Challenger Series assignments. Ranked second in both segments, she took silver at the2016 CS U.S. International Classic, behindSatoko Miyahara. At the2016 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial, she placed fifth in the short, fourth in the free, and third overall behindMaria Sotskova andYulia Lipnitskaya. She was invited to the2016 Skate America to replace the injuredAngela Wang.^[18] She won the silver medal behindAshley Wagner after placing sixth in the short program and first in the free skate.

In January 2017, Bell received the bronze medal at theU.S. Championships, earning her a spot on the Four Continents and World teams. In February, she placed sixth at the2017 Four Continents Championships inGangneung, South Korea. She later placed twelfth at her first trip to the2017 World Championships inHelsinki, Finland.

Bell began her season placing fifth at theU.S. International Figure Skating Classic behind teammatesMirai Nagasu andKaren Chen and was assigned to theRostelecom Cup and theNHK Trophy on the2017–18 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating circuit.

After a sixth-place finish at the2017 Rostelecom Cup, Bell placed ninth at the2017 NHK Trophy.

Bell was named as the second alternate to the2018 Winter Olympics team after placing fifth at the2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships inSan Jose. On the withdrawal ofKaren Chen, she was named to the2018 World Figure Skating Championships team and placed twelfth.

Bell began the season at2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, where she placed fourth overall with a score of 188.97. She was invited to2018 Skate Canada International, where she placed fourth with a score of 190.25. In November, at2018 NHK Trophy, she placed fifth overall with a score of 198.96, the highest in her career. She won the bronze medal at the2018 CS Golden Spin after placing fourth in the short program and third in the free program, earning 196.60 points.

At the2019 U.S. Championships, Bell underrotated the second part of her combination and placed third in the short program, behindBradie Tennell andAlysa Liu.^[19] She placed second in the free skate, behind Liu, winning the bronze medal overall, the second of her career. Because the 13-year-old Liu was ineligible for senior (or even junior) international competition, Bell joined silver medalist Tennell on the American team for the2019 World Championships, as well as the2019 Four Continents Championships.^[20]

Bell placed third in the short program at Four Continents, setting a new personal best and winning a bronze small medal.^[21] The free skate proved to be less successful, with a fall on a triple loop jump and a doubled Lutz, and she fell to sixth overall.^[22]

Bell finished ninth at the2019 World Figure Skating Championships with a career-best total score of 208.07.^[23] Bell's attendance at the World Championships became enmeshed in controversy when she was accused of deliberately causing an on-ice incident in which the blade of her free leg hit South Korean skaterLim Eun-soo during a practice session, causing a cut on Lim's calf.^[24] Lim's agency, All That Sports, stated to Agence-France Presse that the incident had been intentional and part of a pattern of bullying by Bell.^[25] Upon request from the Korean Skating Federation, the International Skating Union conducted an investigation. On March 21, the ISU stated that it found no evidence that Bell had sought to injure Lim intentionally.^[26]Rafael Arutyunyan, who coached both Bell and Lim, denied the allegations: "The thing is that Mariah’s program includes an element where she lays her leg back and stretches it. This is how it happened that she touched Lim’s leg with her blade. Of course, it was not deliberately! There has never been any confrontation between them at training sessions."^[27] Bell later said: "The whole experience was really bizarre, and it just felt like I was drowning in this nightmare of completely false information that was put out there that I couldn't do anything about."^[28]

Bell concluded her season as part of the gold medal-winning Team USA at the2019 World Team Trophy.^[29]

Having already hadAdam Rippon collaborate as a choreographer the previous season, Bell added Rippon as part of her coaching team in addition to having him again choreograph her short program, this time toBritney Spears music on Rippon's recommendation.^[30] Starting her season on theChallenger series at the2019 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, Bell placed first in both segments to win the event, her first international gold medal.^[31]

For her firstGrand Prix assignment, Bell competed at the2019 Internationaux de France, placing third in the short program with only an unclear edge warning on her triple flip.^[32] In the free skate, Bell underrotated a triple Lutz but otherwise landed all jumps cleanly and placed second in the segment, edging out reigningWorld andOlympic championAlina Zagitova. She was third overall, behindAlena Kostornaia and Zagitova, taking her second Grand Prix medal. Bell said she was "proud of how this competition went."^[33] Competing next at the2019 Rostelecom Cup, Bell placed third in the short program despite falling on her jump combination.^[34] She was also third in the free skate, winning another bronze medal.^[35]

Bell placed third in the short program at the2020 U.S. Championships when, after landing her jumps successfully, she fell in her step sequence. She remarked after, "today, maybe I felt a little too good."^[36] Placing second in the free skate with no errors other than an underrotated triple Lutz, Bell won the silver medal and was the highest-finishing medalist eligible for senior international competition, the gold medal going again toAlysa Liu. Her free skate received a standing ovation, which she called "a very special feeling. I hadn’t had that before in my career."^[37] Bell subsequently eschewed attending theFour Continents Championships inSeoul, looking ahead to the2020 World Championships inMontreal, but these events were canceled as a result of thecoronavirus pandemic.^[38]

After spending months off the ice in the midst of the pandemic, Bell resumed training in June 2020, stating that she hoped to use the time to work on developing atriple Axel, which she described as having "always been something that I believe that I can do."^[38] She competed at the first opportunity of the ISP Points Challenge, a virtual U.S. domestic competition, winning both segments of the competition, despite only doing one jump combination in the free skate. It was announced that she would be a virtual guest skater at theJapan Open.^[39]

Bell was assigned to compete at the2020 Skate America event on theGrand Prix circuit, the ISU having made assignments based on training location due to the pandemic.^[40] Bell won the short program with a clean skate, more than three points ahead ofBradie Tennell in second place.^[41] This would prove decisive, as she placed fourth in the free skate after falling on an underrotated triple Lutz and only attempting six triple jumps, but her short program score was sufficient to retain the overall lead and win her first Grand Prix gold medal.^[42]

Bell's success at Skate America and the prior season's national championships lead many to identify her as the favorite going into the2021 U.S. Championships, particularly with defending champion Liu struggling with growth-related jumping limitations.^[43][44] She unexpectedly placed third in the short program after underrotating her triple Lutz and called it a disappointment.^[45] Bell struggled in the free skate, falling on a triple flip and making several other jump errors; as a result, she placed fifth in that segment and dropped to fifth place overall.^[46]

Heading into the Olympic season, Bell prepared new programs for the occasion. For the short program, she recruitedRuPaul's Drag Race contestantCordero Zuckerman to work withAdam Rippon on a stylistic homage tovogue set to the music ofLady Gaga. Her free skate toJoni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now", music Bell had considered using before, was meant to reflect the highs and lows of her career: "Skating to 'Hallelujah' at nationals was an incredible feeling — but I can still know what it was like the following year, to get off the ice and see myself in fifth."^[47] However, following her bronze medal showing at theSkating Club of Boston'sCranberry Cup international event and feedback from American officials, she subsequently dropped both programs, reviving her "Hallelujah" program and creating a new short program.^[48]

Bell's twoGrand Prix assignments were the final two events of the series, starting with the2021 Internationaux de France, where she placed sixth. She was tenth in the short program and fourth in the free skate.^[49] At her second event the following week, the2021 Rostelecom Cup, Bell was third in the short program despite not landing a triple-triple combination, dropping to fourth after the free skate. She said, "technical content is a little bit lower right now, but I plan to put the triple-triple back in later during the season."^[50]

Bell entered the2022 U.S. Championships as a contender for both the title and theAmerican Olympic team. Frequent rivalBradie Tennell withdrew in advance due to injury. Bell won the short program, narrowly ahead ofKaren Chen, whileAlysa Liu was further back in third and withdrew before the free skate due to testing positive forCOVID-19. Bell won the free skate as well, taking her first national title.^[51] The following day, she was named to the Olympic team, along with Chen and Liu.^[52] At 25, Bell became the oldest U.S. women's champion sinceBeatrix Loughran in 1927, and also the oldest American women's singles skater sent to the Olympics since Loughran in1928.^[53]

Competing at the2022 Winter Olympics in thewomen's event, Bell fell on her opening triple-triple combination attempt but nevertheless qualified for the free skate in eleventh position.^[54] She moved up one place in the free skate to finish tenth overall.^[55]

Days after the Olympics concluded,Vladimir Putin ordered aninvasion of Ukraine, as a result of which theInternational Skating Union banned all Russian and Belarusian skaters from competing at the2022 World Championships. This had a major impact on the women's field, dominated by Russians for most of the preceding eight years, and Bell entered the event as a podium contender.^[56] She finished third in the short program with a new personal best score of 72.55, taking a bronze small medal, the first for an American at the World Championships sinceAshley Wagner in2016.^[57] In the free skate, Bell struggled on both of her triple Lutzes in the second half of the program, underrotating one of them. She dropped from third to fourth overall, behind Liu.^[58][59]

On October 12, 2022, Bell announced onInstagram that she was retiring from competitive figure skating and said she would continue performing at ice shows.^[60] She participated in the Japan Open later that fall, finishing sixth among the six female competitors and winning silver with Team North America.^[61]

GP:Grand Prix; CS:Challenger Series; JGP:Junior Grand Prix

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only atISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only. ISU personal best scores highlighted inbold.

• Mariah Bell at theInternational Skating Union
• Mariah Bell atOlympedia
• Mariah Bell atOlympics.com
• Mariah Bell atTeam USA (archive May 23, 2023)

• 1996 births
• Living people
• American female single skaters
• People from Monument, Colorado
• People from Westminster, Colorado
• Sportspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma
• 21st-century American sportswomen
• Figure skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympics
• Olympic figure skaters for the United States

• CS1: unfit URL
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Pages using infobox figure skater with unknown parameters