Mariah Bell relishes ‘old’ title ahead of Olympic figure skating debut

If age is just a number, then why spend so much time talking about it? That’s what Team USA’s Mariah Bell wants to know ahead of her Winter Olympics debut in Beijing.

At 25, she is considered “old” in her sport, especially among her fellow women competitors in Beijing where she’ll be the oldest U.S. Olympic women’s singles competitor since 1928. But just like every other challenge in her life, Bell looks at it as an opportunity to deliver a message.

“I don’t talk about my age, but people love to talk about it,” Bell recently told On Her Turf. Of the three American women competing in Beijing Games, she and 22-year-old teammate Karen Chen are older than every gold medalist since 1936 save one: Japan’s Shizuka Arakawa, who had turned 24 just prior to the 2006 Torino Winter Games.

“I’m really excited to have this title of being ‘old,’ I guess, because I don’t feel old at all. I want to keep going for several more years, and I especially want other young girls in skating to know it doesn’t have to end at a certain time.”

Lucky for skating fans, Team USA, and particularly herself, that Bell felt that way, otherwise she may never have realized a life-long dream that didn’t really galvanize until she was 21.

In 2018, Bell had a shot at making the U.S. Olympic team but was ultimately the second alternate. Watching the Games from her home in Irvine, Calif., she knew she’d be in a different position come 2022.

“I was like, ‘I’m so motivated,’” said Bell, who was born in Tulsa, Okla., and began skating at age 4. “I just know I’m not going to be an alternate next time. Like, that’s my only goal. And I remember watching the Games from home and just being like, ‘I want to be there so bad.’”

Just like real life, though, it’s been a