When Mariah Bell landed her last triple Lutz at the 2020 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the arena roared and took to their feet for the final seconds of her performance. Bell fell to her knees in tears as she finished her 'Hallelujah' program to a standing ovation.
"When they were on their feet at the end, it was so incredible and kind of took my breath away," Bell said. "I wanted to live in that moment for as long as I could and really soak it up."
The 24-year-old figure skater remembers seeing her parents, Kendra and Andy Bell, jumping up and down in the crowd and that only made her more emotional. Through everything, including several different coaches and moves, Bell's parents and sister, Morgan Bell, have always been the constant in her life and supported her from the very beginning.
"That's something that skaters dream of, and it's sad to say, but it just doesn't happen often," Morgan said of her standout performance. "It's just one of the best programs that I feel like had ever been skated for an American skater. I think that that was such a big turning point for her, because for her to skate like that proved to herself that she could do it."
"You couldn't even hear her music at points over the roar of the crowd, and so, it was almost surreal," Kendra said.
Bell has skated in six U.S. Championships, three Worlds and Four Continents Championships, and eight Grand Prix Series events. After taking bronze at her two Grand Prix assignments in the 2019-20 season, she finished a personal best second overall at the U.S. Championships in Greensboro and was slotted for the World Team before the event was ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kendra had never missed a competition in Mariah's 20-year-long skating career until the pandemic prevented her from going to 2020 Guaranteed Rate Skate America in late October. Not being there at the event with Mariah made Kendra especially nervous.
Instead, Kendra helped Mariah in another way: she traveled to California from her current home in Texas to "bunny-sit" Mariah's two bunnies, 10-month-old Turbo and 3-year-old Gizmo. She stayed in her apartment while Mariah quarantined in the bubble in Las Vegas.
"I watched her compete on my iPad, which was very unnerving for me," Kendra said. "I tried to gauge by her face when she took the ice, like was she nervous or was she not, so I really felt very out of touch with that."
Mariah went on to claim her first Grand Prix title at Skate America®.
This is just one of the many ways Mariah's family has supported her in her skating career. Even now, with Kendra and Morgan in Texas, Andy in Switzerland for his job, flying back and forth, and Mariah abiding by a strict training schedule in Irvine, California, the Bell family sticks together through FaceTime and a family group chat. The Bells are used to being in different states and countries, though.
Morgan Bell, who just recently took a coaching job in North Ridgeland Hills, Texas, traveled with Disney on Ice for six years portraying Anna from Frozen. She said that she was not able to be home for a holiday in those six years.
"We always joke that we only ever saw each other in the airports in passing," Morgan said with a laugh. "So, there were many times where my mom was traveling with Mariah, and I was traveling with my cast, and we'd be in the same airport and wouldn't be able to see each other because we were at different terminals or something."
This family separation was a sacrifice the Bells decided as a family to make in 2008 when they realized the sisters' potential in figure skating. Kendra, Mariah and Morgan had moved cross-country from Houston to Colorado so the Bell sisters could advance their skating careers. Andy had to stay in Houston for his job and visited them on the weekends.
Morgan, a junior in high school at the time, created a PowerPoint, and the sisters presented it to their parents to convince them of the benefits of moving to the Rocky Mountain Figure Skating Club. Mariah, then a 6th grader, sang a song about her reasons to move during the drive to Colorado for their six-month trial stay.
It was there in Colorado that the Bell family started to realize Mariah's potential to be a great figure skater. Morgan saw Mariah's potential in two different moments.
From the beginning, she noticed that Mariah was more dedicated to training than ever. For example, when the sisters got home from skating, Morgan said her first thought was getting a snack and planning on resting after training was done for the day. But Mariah had other plans.
"Mariah was up like, 'Let's go run, let's go bike, let's go do something outside,' and she's always had this internal drive to be active and be doing something," Morgan said.
The second moment was her "Hallelujah" performance.
"I think Mariah has the skating potential to be a household name, like Michelle Kwan, or Scott Hamilton, or Tara Lipinski," Morgan explained. "She has this American sweetheart quality, but then she's got skating that backs it up too. It's so exciting to see how it's developed and to just kind of predict where it could go in the future, and it's super special to me."
In a house full of competition, the girls had fun too. They'd compete with each other in Just Dance, see who could ride the RipStik fastest, who could learn to skateboard the fastest, who could learn the unicycle or who could learn how to juggle.
Morgan said the two epitomized the song, "anything you can do, I can do better."
"You tell her she can't do something, well, she's going to do it until she proves you wrong," Morgan said of Mariah. "She believes in herself, and she's confident, and she's the nicest person you'll ever meet."
Morgan remembered when Mariah taught herself how to ride the unicycle. She didn't hear from Mariah for a while and then, through the window, she saw the unicycle go flying across the yard. Mariah had gotten so frustrated that she threw it.
"She wasn't gonna let it stop her," Morgan recalled. "She got right back on it, and by the end of the day, she had taught herself how to ride it."
However, the girls were not the only competitive ones in the family. Kendra used to compete in pageants in Iowa and Andy wrestled. Morgan said that she and Mariah grew up wrestling their dad. The Bell family also went to wrestling tournaments when the girls were young.
Little did they know, Andy was a very accomplished wrestler.
Their father once came close to an Olympic wrestling appearance but fell short by one spot. He was a state champion and went on to compete for the University of Wyoming, where he met Kendra.
Andy and Kendra worked to instill the values of respect and teach the girls to always be the best versions of themselves. Mariah said she's lucky to have parents and other family members who fostered a healthy relationship with skating.
"It was never about needing to win or needing to get certain placements; it was just about doing everything I could to be the best that I could be and then see what happens after that," Mariah said.
Additionally, Kendra wouldn't tolerate the girls having a bad attitude.
"One of my parents' favorite quotes is 'The only disability in life is a bad attitude,'" Mariah said.
When Mariah would get frustrated and kick the ice, and Kendra would take her aside and say, "So, did that help, and did that change your situation; did you then start landing things because you kicked the ice? Or did it just kind make the situation even worse?"
With an arsenal of life lessons and family support, Mariah looks forward to bringing her best back to Las Vegas for the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships this week.
"I've never been really in that position that I have had such a great season [last year], so it's a new feeling for me, but it's a very exciting feeling," Mariah said. "So, what I'm really doing is taking the energy that I built up last year and the momentum and letting that help me keep my motivation and just to create a very positive vibe in my training."
Mariah said she's just focused on her training and making the most of every day. After that, the other goals will fall into place. The Bell family has no doubt that Mariah will give it her all to succeed with the support of her family cheering her on, even if it is just virtually for the time being.
Fans can follow Mariah Bell next week on the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships Virtual Fan Experience. The site provides quick access to everything fans need to know about #ToyotaUSChamps21, including TV and streaming schedules, feature stories, Fantasy Skating presented by Xfinity, HomeLight Home Ice Bingo and more!
