Mariah Bell goes to the Olympics with her fairy godmother — Adam Rippon

In summer 2019, figure skater Mariah Bell drove to a Dunkin’ Donuts, ordered two strawberry frosted pastries and made a career-altering decision.

She called Adam Rippon.

“She said, ‘I’m a mess,'” Rippon recalled. “And I was like, what does that mean?”

Come help me, she said. Bell was coming off a bronze medal at the previous national championships, and her best world championships finish (ninth).

But she was struggling come the 2019-20 preseason. Particularly on this day at the U.S. Figure Skating preseason Champs Camp to assess skaters.

Her coach, Rafael Arutunian, said she was disorganized. Arutunian, who doesn’t like to have to repeat himself, suggested she call Rippon, his former student who retired after reaching the Olympics in 2018.

“He could hold your hand,” Bell remembered Arutunian telling her.

They’ve been inseparable ever since.

Rippon helped choreograph Bell’s short program every season in this Olympic cycle — to music from Britney Spears, Celine Dion and Lady Gaga. “Anything that was on my Spotify most listened to list was up for grabs,” he joked.

But since that strawberry frosted epiphany, Bell also leaned on Rippon as a “secondary coach.” Or “fairy godmother,” as he says. Together, Arutunian and Rippon helped Bell reach her two primary goals: winning her first national title last month and making her first Olympic team.

At 25, she became the oldest U.S. women’s figure skating champion since 1927. Next month, she will become the oldest U.S. Olympic women’s singles skater since 1928.

“Our goal is to go there and for her to show that being 25 is amazing,” Rippon said. “That you can be 25, and you can be in the best shape of your life.”

Rippon began training under the gruff Arutunian in Southern California in