American figure skater Mariah Bell is breaking her silence after having been accused of intentionally slashing her South Korean competitor, Lim Eun-soo.
In an Instagram post shared with her nearly 30,000 followers on Thursday, Bell explained her side of the story and denied allegations that she came up behind Eun-soo and kicked her with her skate blade while the two were attending a warm-up practice for the World Figure Skating Championships.
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“As I told Eun-soo in Japan, the incident at practice was very unfortunate and I meant absolutely no harm,” Bell wrote, according to E! News. “Our training environment is professional and supportive, and I’ve never changed locker rooms or training times or anything like that.”
“The comments that my friends, family and I received on social media were hateful and disturbing and hopefully this situation raises awareness and causes people to think twice before hitting ‘tweet’ or ‘post,’” she continued. “I learned a lot about my inner strength last week, and I’m excited to continue to train in the lead up to Beijing in 2022.”
The controversy, which has drawn comparisons to the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan feud in the ’90s, occurred on Wednesday, March 20, when Eun-soo suffered a cut to the back of her leg caused by Bell. According to an official with Eun-soo’s agency, All That Sports, the incident was not accidental, but rather intentional, and Bell had been “bullying Lim for months.”
The incident resulted in All That Sports requesting that the Korean Skating Union file a formal complaint on Eun-soo’s behalf with the International Skating Union (ISU), though the ISU, when acknowledging the incident, said that no formal complaint had been filed and there was no reason to believe the incident was deliberate.
“Based on the evidence at hand in this point in time, which includes a video, there is no evidence that Ms. Bell intended any harm to Ms. Lim,” they said in a statement. “The ISU met with delegates from both USA and Korea and urged both parties to find an amicable solution. The ISU maintains that this remains the appropriate approach.”
Video of the incident reportedly showed Bell beginning her practice routine in the center of the ring, but as she continued the routine and skated closer to the outside of the ring, around several other skaters including Eun-soo, her blade accidentally struck Eun-soo.
Both Bell and Eun-soo train in Lakewood, California with Rafael Arutunian, who came to Bell’s defense after the accusations were made, stating that “there were no disagreements between these athletes in the training session at all. Of course it was not intentional.”
Eun-soo has not yet commented on the incident.
