Mariah Bell finished in second place at the U.S. National Championships this year. She finished in first place after the short program for Skate America this year. She is going for the gold medal in this competition and is ready to grab it. She has moved her way up the ladder over the past couple of years, and with every competition, it is evident to see her performances improving. Bell is 24 years old and from Westminster, Colorado. She needs 134.60 points to win this competition, and her personal best is 142.64. She is going to be skating to Medley ABBA for this free skate.
Mariah Bell’s first jump for the free skate is a double axel, triple toe combination, in which she landed effortlessly. The base value of this combo jump is 7.50. However, she received a bonus GOE of .53 points. Her next jump is a triple loop, and although she seemed to be a bit tilted in her air position, she still fought for the element and landed it well. The base value for this jump is 4.90. However, she received a bonus GOE of .98 points. She did gorgeous choreography into a level 4 combination spin. The base value for the spin is 3.50, and she received a bonus score of 1.26 points. Following the spin, she did not fall but lightly stumbled on a choreographed step going into back crossovers. Her next element is a triple salchow. She was tilted her air position on this jump once again and was leaning forward at her waist. Although she landed the element because she fought for the jump, she did not receive any bonus points for the jump. She only received the base value of 4.30 points. Following this element, she lands a beautiful triple flip that received a bonus score of 1.06, along with the base value of 5.30 points. She completed an elegant rounded step sequence that received a level 4, the base value of 3.90 points, and a GOE of 1.17.
Moreover, Bell landed a triple lutz, double toe combination, and got a base value of 7.92 along with bonus points of 1.77. The next jump pass for the program is a triple flip, double tow combination. She landed both elements and received a GOE of 1.17 on top of her base value of 7.26. The next spin pass she completes is a flying combination spin that received a level 3, the base value of 3.00, and GOE of .90. Mariah does lovely choreography and picks up the speed going into her triple lutz. Unfortunately, she did not get as much air out the jump as she anticipated and collapsed in the air, coming down. She stepped out of the jump and then fell. The base value of this jump is 6.49. She received a GOE of -2.95 points. Her choreographed spiral sequence received a base value of 3.00 and a GOE of 2.25. The layback spin she finished as her last element received a base value of 2.70 and a GOE of 1.13.
Mariah incorporates every jump beautifully with the choreography. There is nothing in her programs that require significant amounts of effort for her to achieve. She puts in her emotion behind every choreographed piece, and her spins and jumps just flow in the run through just as effortlessly as the choreographed steps. Bell goes into every competition with the mindset that she wants to compete against herself, and improve on what she achieves. It is less nerve wracking to know that the only person you are trying to beat in competition is yourself. In comparison to comparing yourself to others around you, or telling yourself you cannot make any mistakes, it becomes frustrating. So, she chooses to relax, be in a comfortable mindset, and tries her absolute best. The technical element score for the program is 67.33, the program component score is 69.92, and the total score is 136.25. The short program score is 76.48 and the free skate score is 136.25. Her total score for the competition is 212.73, she still won the whole competition even with the fall on her triple lutz! She is beautiful skater, and she will be constantly learning from her mistakes and improving her performances in the future.
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