Mariah Bell Headlines US Figure Skating Olympics Women’s Team 2022

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U.S. Figure Skating announced its women’s team for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on Saturday, headlined by national champion Mariah Bell.

According to Team USA, Bell is joined by Karen Chen and Alysa Liu, who round out the three-woman squad.

At 25 years of age, Bell became the oldest United States women’s figure skating champion since 1927 when she won the title Friday in Nashville, Tennessee, per Alex Azzi of NBC Sports.

Bell will also be the oldest American female figure skater to compete in the Olympics since 34-year-old Theresa Weld-Blanchard in 1928.

This year will mark Bell’s first time on the Olympic team, as she was named a second alternate for the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Chen, 22, finished second to Bell in the U.S. Championships on Friday and is set to make her second consecutive Olympic appearance.

After finishing third at the U.S. Championships in 2018, Chen was one of three women to be named to Team USA in Pyeongchang, where she finished 11th.

Like Bell, the 16-year-old Liu is set to make her Olympic debut as well. Liu did not place at the U.S. Championships, as she had to withdraw from the competition because of a positive COVID-19 test.

Liu was in third place after the short program, however, and she is the most decorated skater on this year’s Olympic team.

In addition to taking bronze at the Junior World Championships in 2020, Liu won gold at the U.S. Championships in both 2019 and 2020.

Isabeau Levito took bronze at the 2022 U.S. Championships, but since she is only 14 years of age, she is not old enough to be part of the Olympic team.

Gracie Gold, 26, won bronze in the team event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, but she failed to qualify for the Beijing Games after finishing 10th at the 2022 U.S. Championships.

Bell, Chen and Liu will all look to become the first American women’s figure skater to medal in singles at the Olympics since Sasha Cohen took silver in 2006.