Steven Luke had a chat with Team USA figure skaters Alysa Liu, Karen Chen and Mariah Bell about happy and sad tears, the drama surrounding their sport and everything they’re proud of.
The women's individual figure skating competition came to an emotional and tear-filled close on Wednesday, but the three U.S. women's figure skaters won't let the drama surrounding the finals take away from their Olympic moments.
"I had a really great time on the ice. We've all had moments -- center ice, at the Olympics -- that we will be so proud of and will remember forever, and that's all we can ask for of ourselves," Team USA skater Mariah Bell told NBC 7's Steven Luke.
Bell finished the women's free skate in 10th with a stunning skate to "Hallelujah." As for her U.S. teammates, Alysa Liu came in 7th with a captivating performance that catapulted her up the leaderboard while Karen Chen ranked 16th.
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"I'll be honest, my individual event did not go the way I wanted to, but I had such a great performance in the team event. But overall, I'm just really happy to be here and experience all these memories with these lovely ladies," Chen said.
Podium spots went to Russian skaters Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova and Japan's Kaori Sakamoto in what should've been a joyous moment but resulted in tears and terse words.
It was a fitting end to a drama-filled Olympics for women's figure skating, which has been roiled by a doping scandal with Russian skater Kamila Valieva at the center.
Figure Skating
"'I'm sorry that you're sort of the face of this,'" Bell would say to Valieva. "There's a lot of things that we don't know and we're speculating, or whatever, but it's an unfortunate experience for her, I know. But, [the situation] makes me even more proud to be part of a team of clean athletes."
Liu is about the same age as Valieva (15), and wouldn't really know how to handle a situation like that herself, she said. But what she would do is give Valieva a supportive hug to which Bell and Chen agreed, hugs are the best.
For the women representing the red, white and blue, they'll leave Beijing proud of their Olympic journey, even if there were some tears (OK, lots of tears) along the way.
"I definitely shed so many tears this whole entire time I've been here in China," Chen said. "But I don't regret a single tear. Every single one counted and was totally worth it."
Bell added, "You don't come out of the Olympics saying it was solely the most amazing experience of your life. It's tough, too, especially being here without family. So, I think we all have our badge now, we're literally Olympians and we've been through it all and I'm proud of us."
