After failing to make the 2014 Olympic Team and having ankle surgery, French figure skater Romain Ponsart flew to Colorado in the fall of 2015 at the behest of a French coach who urged him to see if a new training environment would help him return to his previous level. Ponsart was set on retiring from sport to pursue architecture school, but was open to trying it out for two weeks.
Barely able to speak any English at the time, Ponsart could have never imagined the trip would result in him potentially spending the rest of his life in the U.S., not to mention being in a committed relationship with an American skater, Mariah Bell, and best friends with another, Nathan Chen. He is also an Olympic Team contender once more.
The two Americans and Frenchman are now known as "the trio." Bell and Ponsart are dating, Ponsart and Chen are in a "bromance," and Chen and Bell are best friends. They go to malls, to the beach and to amusement parks; play tennis; play basketball; or sit on the couch, eat and watch "The Office."
All three say their relationship is unlike anything they had experienced previously in their lengthy careers in the sport and never expected to find.
"I would have never thought I would end up in America," Ponsart, a five-time French national medalist, said. "I was focused on going to architecture school and I was done with skating. I was already thinking about places where I would like to live in France and it's crazy how in one year everything changed."
Bell was also surprised by the turn of events when she met Ponsart in the lobby of a skating rink in Colorado Springs.
"I never thought I would date a skater, and I also never thought I would date somebody who is from another country," Bell, the 2020 Guaranteed Rate Skate America champion, said. "I don't know why, I just had that feeling. I remember I met Romain and for two weeks I couldn't even look him in the eyes because I was so nervous around him. He's truly my soulmate, I absolutely know that. He's just a really great guy and makes me really, really happy."
The couple moved to Southern California in the summer of 2016 to train under coach Rafael Arutunian. Chen was recovering from a hip injury earlier that year and switching between training locations in Colorado, Michigan and California before settling in the latter that fall. He now cites loneliness and the yearning for a training environment where he fit in as the biggest factors for that period.
"Although I loved training with Adam (Rippon) and Ashley (Wagner), because of the age difference I felt like I couldn't be close friends with them and I just felt really alone," Chen, the reigning two-time World champion, explained. "That's part of the reason why I started hopping around different rinks, because I felt alone all the time. I kind of wanted to have a little bit more of a friendly environment. I immediately gravitated toward Romain and Mariah because I felt that was what I wanted and needed at the time."
Chen and Ponsart met through a mutual friend and they started hanging out off the ice. Before long, Chen moved into an apartment that was a two-minute walk from Ponsart and Bell's and spent most of his time at their apartment.
"Romain is one of the nicest guys ever, and he really made me feel at home," Chen said. "He's someone I can trust with everything, who I know is always there if I need him – to the extent I'm almost calling him family."
"I respect him a lot because he's so humble and also he has so much respect for everybody," Ponsart said of Chen. "He's someone who can have fun but when something is serious, he's going to help you, he's going to do it."
After communicating largely through Google Translate at the start of their relationship, Bell helped Ponsart learn English. He is now fluent; meanwhile, Bell admitted that her French still needs a lot of work.
"Actually, I had to improve my English a lot because of Nathan," Ponsart said. "He's speaking so fast and I don't know how to explain it in English but a little bit with a low voice and cutting some words. I remember when I met Nathan, I was saying to Mariah, 'I don't know what he is saying!'"
Despite planning to spend the rest of her life with Ponsart, Bell said she remains the third wheel in the trio. Bell and Chen grew their own friendship on a trip to Japan for a skating show at the start of the 2017-18 season, though.
"We definitely have the same sense of humor," Bell said of Chen. "We get along really well. We also love to poke fun at each other, which makes our relationship even more fun. We joke that Nathan's the little brother I don't want and I'm the big sister he doesn't need. It's really fun to have somebody I can hang out with at the rink, especially with Romain gone right now."
The trio has not been together in a year. Ponsart went to France late in 2019 to renew his visa. He last saw Chen in Italy for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final and Bell in Switzerland with her family in December. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which meant his appointment at the embassy continues to get pushed back and so does his timeline for leaving France.
Ponsart currently lives and trains in a remote town where he is only allowed to leave his apartment to skate. In the meantime, the trio does group video chats nearly every day.
When Chen was away studying at Yale University in Connecticut, he would FaceTime with Ponsart regularly, and Bell would hear everything thirdhand. Chen returned to California this summer and is planning to stay there through the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.
"I do have some close friends at the rink, but Nathan is obviously more like family, so I'm glad that he's back," Bell said.
"When we're having tough days, it's nice to be able to have someone," Chen said of the friendship. "It's also just sort of a reality check. I feel like sometimes when we're on the ice, things don't necessarily go your way and we can get a little irrational. To have someone who knows you and sees you every single day, who isn't a coach, to tell you that actually you are fine, to say, 'I've seen you do this a million times' – I think that's the most helpful thing."
While it remains unknown when the trio will be reunited on the ice, all three skaters know what they want for their future.
"We are always saying the dream is to have a house near Nathan's house and keep the friendship going even after skating," Ponsart said.
Both Chen and Bell were invited to compete in the Las Vegas Invitational presented by HomeLight, airing on NBC on Sunday, Nov. 15, from 4-6 p.m. ET. Bell will skate for Team Johnny [Weir] while Chen will compete against her on Team Tara [Lipinski] for $50,000 in prize money. Be sure to tune in this weekend for more Vegas action!
