ARIZONA, USA — Chris and Alexa Knierim are heading to Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics – but the husband-and-wife duo won't be skating together this time.
The couple won the bronze in pairs skating in the 2018 Olympics in South Korea, but Chris has since stepped aside.
Chris is from Tucson. He and Alexa had been skating together since 2014. They were married in 2016 and got their Olympic medal two years later.
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The two were on track to head back to the Olympics in 2022, even winning a third national title in January of 2020. But a month later Chris announced he was retiring from skating.
In interviews, he said he had been fighting injuries and depression. It all came to a head during a competition in February
“He really supported me in continuing to compete," Alexa said. "He knew that I wasn't ready to retire from competitive skating."
Instead, Alexa found a new partner, and Chris signed on to coach them both.
Alexa and her new partner, Brandon Frazier, have already won a national title.
“I was lucky and fortunate that Chris was selfless enough to do that," Alexa said. "It must be very hard for him to see me skate with somebody else and have success and kind of swallow that pride.”
Last-minute setbacks
After testing positive for COVID-19, Alexa and partner Brandon were forced to pull out of the 2022 U.S. Figure Skating Championship. The event was the final qualifying competition to determine which athletes would be nominated to skate for Team USA at the Olympics.
The two were able to file a petition with U.S. Figure Skating to claim one spot based on their work leading up to Nationals.
The pair were officially named to Team USA a few days later.
"Being named to this team is a true honor and I will forever be humbled for the opportunity to represent Team USA at the Olympics," Frazier said in the social media post.
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