Married US Olympic Skaters Pair up on Valentine's Day

Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim spent their Valentine's Day in Pyeongchang, South Korea [...]

Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim spent their Valentine's Day in Pyeongchang, South Korea skating for Team USA in the Olympic figure skating pairs competition. Days after winning bronze in the team portion, the married couple sealed their romantic short program set to "Come What May" from Moulin Rouge! with a kiss.

alexa-chris-knierim
(Photo: Instagram / @alexa_knierim)

While social media was all over the first married couple to compete for the U.S. in pairs skating at the Games since 1988, what fans were even more excited about was the fact that Chris, 30, came prepared. After their routine, he gave Alexa, 26, a handmade heart-shaped Valentine that read "will you (still) be mine?"

And after that, the couple treated everyone to a selfie of their kiss on the ice.

While the Knierims' spotty routine earned them only a 65.66 score, it was enough to get them to the final.

"We'll get there someday," Alexa told reporters about their skate. "This journey is really between Chris and I. it's not about our score and it's not about the other teams being better than us. It's deeper than that. It's our joy and love for skating."

Alexa said the two, who married two years ago, have grown closer than ever after she beat a life-threatening gastrointestinal condition.

"We were soaking it in. We promised we would be present every single second," she told NBC after their skate.

Chris added that he whispered, "Great job and Happy Valentine's Day," which led to Alexa dropping this bomb: "I told him the only thing that would top this is having a child on Valentine's Day!"

In other Olympic news, American snowboarder Shuan White made history with his third Winter Olympics gold medal, this time in the halfpipe, where he scored an impressive 97.75 score in his final run; he became the first person to win a trio of Olympic gold medals in the sport.

"He was on the podium at 18, then 22 and now at 31, Shaun White will walk to the podium as the Olympic Champion in the men's halfpipe," the NBC commentator said.

According to the Huffington Post, White led the field after the first round, as judges gave his initial effort a 94.25 score, but Japanese snowboarder Ayumu Hirano edged to the front with a 95.25 in the second round.

In the last round, with the last run of the final, White pulled a near-perfect run and stole the gold in a triumphant last round.

Viewers saw live as White celebrate his historic win with his family and spectators.

White also joins fellow American Kelly Clark (who won a gold and two bronzes) on top of the overall medal tally for the sport. Both have three Olympic snowboarding medals each.

It was the fourth gold for the United States in Pyeongchang, with all four medals coming in snowboarding. U.S. athletes have managed to claim golds in all snowboarding competitions thus far, with Red Gerard and Jamie Anderson taking honors in men's and women's slopestyle, and Chloe Kim winning the women's halfpipe on Tuesday.

Click here for PopCulture.com's coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Photo credit: Instagram / @chris_knierim

0comments