BEIJING, China — Most figure skaters have retired the time they reach age 25, but Mariah Bell is proving that age is just a number.
The U.S. figure skater who grew up in Colorado is now competing at the Winter Olympics for the first time, representing the United States in the women's individual event.
"Unfortunately, in skating, there’s this culture that at 16 you are pretty much done," Bell said. "There are a few skaters in the world that are my age or older. Only a few, but there are some, and I hope we can continue to show it doesn’t stop when you grow or have a hard time. You can push through and keep working."
Bell graduated from Ralston Valley High School in Arvada, and she trained in Monument. At age 19, she moved to California to train with Ashley Wagner – an Olympic bronze medalist at the 2014 Sochi Games and a silver medalist at the World Championships.
"Ashley was training there," Bell said. "She had just won a world silver medal. Adam [Rippon] was training there. Nathan Chen was training there, and I thought I want to be in an environment where I’m around people like that."
She missed making the Olympic team in 2018 when she placed fifth at the U.S. Championships. She stayed on the ice. Four years later in Nashville, she won the title of U.S. National Champion for the first time.
"I’m very happy to have achieved that goal, but now it’s like, 'what’s next?' and what’s next is the Olympics," she said.
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