An incident at the International Skating Union World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan has the figure skating world recalling the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan scandal of the early 1990s. As many pop culture experts will remember, Harding's ex-husband planned an assault on Kerrigan ahead of the 1994 Olympic Winter Games. The skater was clubbed in the knee at a practice session two days before Olympic trials. After the Games, the US Figure Skating Association banned Harding from competitive skating for life.
Fast forward to 2019. American Mariah Bell, a 22-year-old contestant in the International Skating Union World Figure Skating Championships, is accused of attacking her 16-year-old South Korean opponent, Lim Eun-soo, ahead of the competition. The two share a coach, Rafael Arutyunyan, and, according to reports, Bell had been "bullying" the younger rival for months. Reports say that Bell attacked her rival with a skate blade during a practice session ahead of the ladies' short program.
“Lim was slowly skating on the edge of the rink after completing her turn,” a representative for Lim’s management agency, All That Sports, said. “Mariah Bell, who was scheduled to rehearse after Lim, suddenly kicked and stabbed Lim’s calf with her skate blades.”
Lim's injury was bandaged, but she bravely returned to the ice for her routine.
The International Skating Union has yet to take action because, as they explained in a statement, they have yet to prove that Bell intentionally struck Lim.
“Based on the evidence at hand at this point in time, which includes a video, there is no evidence that Ms. Bell intended any harm to Ms. Lim,” the Union said. “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.”
Bell's choreographer, Adam Rippon, who will be familiar to many Olympics fans, told PEOPLE that his skater was innocent.
“I have worked with Mariah this past year on her choreography and have trained with her for several years," Rippon shared. "Both Mariah and Lin Eun-Soo’s coach, Rafeal, was also my coach,” he says. “I can say that bullying was never tolerated in any of our training sessions, nor would Rafael allow it to happen during his watch. Knowing Mariah as a friend and competitor, I also believe she would never intentionally hurt anyone, it is not in her character.”
Despite the injury, Lim still bested Bell in the short program. She was fifth, while Bell came in sixth.