But let’s be honest: Team USA’s female figure skaters have been weathering some tough times on the worldwide stage lately. For example, at the 2018 Winter Games at Pyeongchang, the U.S. Women’s Figure Skating Team delivered their poorest Olympics performance since 1944. So when Team USA announced soon before the 2022 Games that Mariah Bell, Alysa Liu and Karen Chen would be the trio representing the red, white and blue at this year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, things started looking up. Liu’s technical abilities are breathtaking for a 16-year-old, Bell is the current national champ and Chen, a former national champ herself, returned for her second time as an Olympian. Still, the U.S. team was not expected to medal in their events. And—spoiler alert for those who haven’t tuned in as of Thursday, Feb. 17!—they fell short of this year’s medal podium. But! Both Liu and Bell delivered wonderful, triumphant performances in their free skates, with The New York Times in particular heralding Bell’s final skate of the 2022 Games, which temporarily put her in first place, as “fall-free and joy-filled.” In the final standings of the 2022 Winter Games, Liu finished seventh, Bell finished 10th and Chen finished in 16th place. Here’s more about the three women on the U.S. Olympic Women’s Figure Skating Team in 2022.
Who is U.S. women’s figure skater Mariah Bell?
If you didn’t catch her powerhouse performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 2020, you can catch it below and see what all the hype is about. Proving she’s got a shot in 2022, the Colorado native Bell brought the house down again at this year’s Nationals—and this time, she became the 2022 U.S. national champion. Her skating is “never forced, it’s always authentic,” Olympian-turned-commentator Lipinski marveled when Bell won the national title. Weir likewise believes that Bell will be someone to watch during the Olympics. “Mariah Bell brings so much passion and experience to her performances, everything is so warm, she’s certainly going to deliver an Olympic moment,” he says. 2018 Olympic bronze medalist Adam Rippon agrees so much that he’s now one of her coaches. “It’s one of the best performances I’ve ever seen anyone do,” Rippon of Bell’s 2020 short program. “ It’s Michelle Kwan-esque what happened in that arena.” At 25, she is the oldest female skater to ever win the U.S. championship in almost a century, after nine showings. She’s also going to be the oldest woman competing in the Olympics ice skating category since 1927. “I think [age] is just truly a state of mind,” she said. “Like if you fall into the trap of like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m too old or whatever,’ then you’re just setting yourself up to feel that way. But if you choose not to think that way, that’s not at all how it is.” Off the ice, Bell’s got a sister who inspired her to start skating in the first place and she’s a dog mom to Nala-Bee, a German shepherd who shares her birthday. These days, she’s ready to experience the Olympics for herself. “It was not the easiest four years, but I’m really excited with just how everything’s gone,” Bell said after she made the 2022 team. “I’ve sacrificed a lot to be at this point, and I’m just honored and grateful and can’t wait to be in Beijing.”
Who is U.S. women’s figure skater Karen Chen?
Chen first walked onto the ice at 4 years old when her parents took her ice skating for fun. “I wish I could remember the first time I laced up a pair of skating boots and slid out onto that big, frozen circle,” she says in Finding the Edge, her memoir. “After all, who wouldn’t want to remember the moment they fell in love?”She soon realized she wanted to compete and has paused her human biology, health and society degree at Cornell University to focus on skating. And today, she is a two-time Olympian (she also has a younger brother, Jeffrey, who competes in ice dancing). The 22-year-old Californian, who was the U.S. Champion in 2017, is in fact the only member of the team making a return trip to the Olympics; she was also a member of the 2018 U.S. Women’s Figure Skating Team. A hand went down on one of her jumps that year, but she was the only one on the team who did not fall. “When I got off the ice, I remember telling myself, `You’ve got to go for another four years. This was not your dream,’” she’s said. Chen seems to be good at learning from her mistakes. “I know I’ve been marked as an inconsistent skater and so I will continue to work harder than ever to break that mold,” she posted on Instagram after a rough skate in October 2021. “Although skating can bring me such pain at times, at the end of the day, I love it and I’m excited to get back to work.” In 2022, having won silver at the National Championship, she seems to be in great shape for her return to the Olympic Games.
Who is U.S. women’s figure skater Alysa Liu?
At first glance, Liu seems like a regular, 16-year-old California girl. She’s got two sisters and two brothers (all five siblings were born via surrogate mothers) and her Instagram is full of funny shots with captions like “I forgot I bought a pogo stick!” You hear the word “first” a lot in any conversation about Liu: she is the youngest person to ever win senior national titles; she’s the first woman skater to ever do a quadruple Lutz/quad jump in a competition; she’s the first woman skater to ever land both a triple axel and quad jump in one program; and so on. So when she was sent to the 2021 Nebelhorn Trophy, a qualifying event for the Olympics, last year, it’s not a surprise that she placed first. “I don’t really pay attention to everyone who’s talking about me,” she said in 2019. Not the competitors, not even the supporters, she continued. “I just think about program, program, program.” Liu’s technical abilities are the strongest on the team, but she’s always looking to improve. To make her programs look more artful, she began working with a coach who has extensive ice dancing experience. Liu has even gotten pointers at practice from figure skater–and 1988 Olympic gold medalist–BrianBoitano. At this year’s nationals, Liu had to withdraw because of a COVID-19 diagnosis. However, she still placed third in the short program–behind Bell and Chen, the two women who will be her teammates in Beijing. “I’ve basically been training like forever for this moment,” Liu said, joining a news conference remotely from her hotel room. “I’m really happy with the decisions I’ve made (in my career), because apparently they were all pretty good ones, because I’m here right now. And yeah, I’m really excited to go with Mariah and Karen.”
How many figure skaters go to the Olympics?
There are three women competing for the United States in figure skating. In addition to the core team, three alternates will be traveling to China in the event that one of the skaters cannot perform. That may happen; COVID-19 is still circulating around the world. Six skaters tested positive just weeks ago at Nationals. Even though there is a planned “closed loop” system in the Olympic Village in Beijing, an alternate might be needed.
Who is on the U.S. Women’s Figure Skating team at the 2022 Olympics?
Mariah Bell
Karen Chen
Alysa Liu
Lindsay Thorngren–alternate
Amber Glenn-alternate
Gabriella Izzo-alternate
How can I watch the U.S. Women’s Figure Skating Team at the 2022 Olympics?
The 2022 Winter Olympic games will take place from Friday, Feb. 4 to Sunday, Feb. 20. The figure skating events begin with the team competitions, with the women’s teams delivering their short programs on Sunday, Feb. 6; the second team component, the women’s team free skate, is set for Monday, Feb. 7. After that, the individual women’s competition kicks off with short programs on Tuesday, Feb. 15, followed by the free skate on Thursday, Feb. 17. You can view the Olympic games on all NBC stations, including the Olympic channel and the streaming service Peacock. Need more options? Check out our guide to streaming the 2022 Winter Olympics. Next, All About the 2022 Winter Olympics—Including New Sports, COVID Protocols and Diplomatic Boycotts
