In Survivor: Nashville, a first national title for Mariah Bell

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In Survivor: Nashville, a first national title for Mariah Bell

It was something of a war of attrition, the women’s singles event at these 2022 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Nashville, with Covid or physical issues eliminating one contender after another.

So it was no surprise that the survivor, Mariah Bell, was a skater who had doggedly stuck it out, season after season, before battling through the free skate Friday to win a first national title in her ninth try.

At 25, Bell also became the oldest U.S. women’s champion in the 95 years since Beatrix Loughran won at 26 in 1927.

And, most importantly, no matter that the decision won’t be announced publicly until Saturday afternoon, Bell also claimed a spot on the U.S. team headed to the 2022 Winter Olympics next month in Beijing. The other two places will almost certainly go to Karen Chen, who finished second, and Alysa Liu, forced out of the free skate after testing positive for Covid earlier Friday.

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Keeping promise to herself, figure skater Karen Chen looks for an Olympic redo

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Keeping promise to herself, figure skater Karen Chen looks for an Olympic redo

Karen Chen left the 2018 Winter Olympics so disappointed over the subpar performances that left her in 11th place that she immediately vowed to try again.

“When I got off the ice, I remember telling myself, `You’ve got to go for another four years. This was not your dream,’” Chen said in a recent media conference.

Yet a season later, after battling an injury that kept her out of all but one minor competition, Chen no longer was so sure.

She had been admitted to Cornell University, which would mean both training far from her coaching team in Colorado Springs and chasing around near the college to find ice time. She had struggled with boot-related foot problems for years. She had accomplished the original part of her dream, which was simply making the Olympics.

Before her first semester of college, Chen thought about calling it a competitive career at age 19. She had a family meeting to discuss the issue and wound up deciding both to give it another go and also that she wanted to be a full-time student at the Ithaca, New York, school.

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At age 14 and just 4-foot-9, figure skater Isabeau Levito within reach of senior podium at nationals

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At age 14 and just 4-foot-9, figure skater Isabeau Levito within reach of senior podium at nationals

About 12 years ago, Chiara Garberi decided to check out the ice rink in her New Jersey neighborhood to see if it might be a place where she could skate for fun on weekends.

With her daughter, Isabeau Levito, in tow, Garberi arrived at a moment when competitive figure skaters were training. Levito, then age 2 ½, took one look at the situation and asked if she could go on the ice.

“I told her, `You need special shoes for that,’” Garberi recalled. “She saw a pair of rental skates next to the ice sheet and said, `Are those mine?’”

They would be, soon enough. Because what followed was a progression familiar to parents of kids who wind up in figure skating’s highest levels.

First came weekly learn-to-skate classes, which Garberi originally made a reward for her daughter if she finished her meals. Next, a year later, was asking a coach who was working with the beginners if Levito, at almost 4, was ready for a private lesson. (The answer was yes.) And then, a few years later, daily lessons. Now, all day at the rink, six days a week, with schoolwork fit in between and after skating sessions.

“Isabeau always tried to be better than everyone else, even in learn to skate,” said Yulia Kuznetsova, who has been Levito’s coach for 10 years.

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Nathan Chen likely to skate 2019-20 programs at 2022 U.S. Championships

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Nathan Chen likely to skate 2019-20 programs at 2022 U.S. Championships

Three-time world champion Nathan Chen has gone back to the programs that produced his career best scores.

They are the short program to Charles Aznavour’s version of “La Bohème” and the free skate to an Elton John medley that Chen used in the 2019-20 season, which ended prematurely when the onset of the Covid pandemic forced cancellation of the 2020 World Championships in Montreal.

At the 2019 Grand Prix Final, Chen’s short program to the Aznavour earned him a personal best 110.38 points. With the Elton John free skate at that event, Chen scored a world record 224.92 for a world record total of 335.30.

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No Grand Prix Final leaves competitive questions unanswered - and some uncertainty about upcoming competitions

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No Grand Prix Final leaves competitive questions unanswered - and some uncertainty about upcoming competitions

I love figure skating’s Grand Prix Final. It has six elite entries in each senior discipline, based on qualifying from results on the six-event Grand Prix circuit. No competition session lasting more than an hour, unlike the three-plus-hour sessions at the Olympics and World Championships. And over the years, many stunning performances and record scores.

So, like all those who are interested in the sport, I was disappointed by the Covid-related cancellation of the event scheduled to begin Thursday in Osaka, Japan.

It is the second straight year the global pandemic has led to the Grand Prix Final being cancelled. Last season, the entire series was changed to domestic-only events.

This one would have let us see whether Nathan Chen, invincible from the 2018 Olympics until finishing third at Skate America in October, could win a fourth straight GPF title and reestablish himself as the clear favorite for the upcoming Beijing Olympics. And whether the latest Russian female phenom, Kamila Valieva, could continue her record-setting dominance. And whether the evergreen Chinese pair, Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, could hold off the top Russians. And whether French ice dancers Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron would gain a winning edge over their top rivals before Beijing.

Those questions will go unanswered for the time being. And that leaves questions about competitions to come.

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