Makes the Most of An Unexpected Spring Break
Mariah Bell was disappointed that the 2020 World Championships were cancelled, but she, like every other athlete, understood that the situation that subsequently unfolded was completely out of human control.
Always optimistic, she instead chose to see a silver lining, noting that if this were the Olympic year, athletes would not have the time to return to a full training regimen to properly prepare for the 2022 Games. Bell, who turned 24 on April 19, considers herself very fortunate to do what she does, but said the coronavirus pandemic “really put things into perspective.”
“You can get emotionally and mentally drained almost faster than you can physically, so this has actually been a great opportunity to completely recharge.”
Bell also reflected on the fact that her coach, Adam Rippon, had an injury the season before the 2018 Olympics, which kept him off the ice for months and denied him the opportunity to compete at Worlds the year prior to those Games. “But it was exactly what he needed to reset and have complete and total energy for the most important season of his career,” she said.
Before the curtain came down on last season, Bell was enjoying her most successful campaign to date. She opened her year with a win at Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany in September, the first international victory of her career.
She followed that up by claiming bronze medals at her Grand Prix assignments in France and Russia.
During the ladies victory ceremony in Grenoble, the local official who awarded the medals placed the gold around Bell’s neck. When Russia’s Alena Kostornaia and Alina Zagitova, who finished first and second, respectively, pointed this out to Bell, all three could. Bell immediately removed the medal and held her own mini-ceremony by placing it around the neck of Kostornaia, congratulating her, and shaking her hand.
