Three sports will be featured on the first night of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. Curling, freestyle skiing and figure skating. Americans are eager to watch 18-year-old Nathan Chen of Salt Lake City, Utah make his Olympic debut in the men’s short program, and to watch married couple Alexa Scimeca Knierim, 26, and Chris Knierim, 30, in pairs skating. As the young couple writes on their blog, “If you don’t believe in fate, our story might change your mind.”
They teamed up together professionally in April 2012, and four years later they married in June 2016. But two months after their wedding, Alexa, who was battling a serious gastrointestinal condition (the 5’2″ tall athlete lost 20 pounds!), had to undergo two abdominal surgeries in August. And the third and final surgery in November. The Knierims had to withdraw from the U.S. Champions that year, among other competitions. And yet, less than two years later, they’re at their first Olympic Games.
[Related: Are Trump and Putin Betting On Olympics Figure Skating?]
