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Married U.S. Olympic Skaters Open Up About Near-Fatal Tragedy That Forced Them to Rely on Faith

While winning a medal would certainly be a dream come true for figure-skating couple Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim, their victory has already been won, just by making it to the Winter Olympics this year.

The star American Christian athletes have won two National titles in their career and were selected as alternates in the Sochi Olympics. Coming in 7th place at the World Championships in 2015, the Knierims also raised the bar for U.S. skating duos overall, as that’s the top finish an American team has achieved since 2011.

But after overcoming a rare gastrointestinal disease that threatened both her life and her ability to ever skate again, Alexa now has a bigger goal than simply chasing gold.

“This competition’s very meaningful for us,” Alexa told PEOPLE. “We’ve kind of been lacking the joy and lightheartedness of life for about two years now, from all the struggles we’ve been through, so being here together, Chris and I are kind of just enjoying it.”

In an interview last year, the Knierims opened up to PEOPLE about the debilitating gastrointestinal condition that surfaced in spring of 2016.

“In April of 2016 I started feeling very sick at a competition, it was the last one of the year, and issues continued to develop all the way through August of 2016 when I was finally diagnosed and had immediate surgery in my abdomen,” said Alexa. “I ended up having three surgeries and we had to withdraw from all of our events for the first half of the year. My life, our life, changed drastically in that time period—life was on hold and we weren’t really sure what life would be for the two of us.”

At 5’2,” she dropped to a dangerous 80 pounds.

“I lost all of my muscle, and my body mechanics when I started getting back into working out were like next to none,” she shared. “The very first time I stepped back on the ice after my surgeries, Chris had to hold me up because my body was not capable of standing on its own.”

But that didn’t stop this 26-year-old fighter fueled by faith from coming back stronger than ever.

Kelsey Straeter
Kelsey Straeter
Kelsey is an editor at Outreach. She’s passionate about fear fighting, freedom writing, and the pursuit of excellence in the name of crucifying perfectionism. Glitter is her favorite color, 2nd only to pink, and 3rd only to pink glitter.

Abby & Brittany: Conjoined Twin Abby Hensel is Married!

They’re the most famous conjoined twins in the world, and now Abby Hensel, of the duo Abby and Brittany, is now married! 

Babysitter Knows Mom Is “Paranoid” After Her Baby’s Death—So She Texts Her This Picture

The 15-year-old needed to make a sandwich, but she didn't want to let the baby out of her sight. She was in quite the predicament.

“I Need God”—Russell Brand Opens Up About Spirituality, 20 Years Sobriety

Russell Brand's spirituality was revealed by the actor himself in a recent interview he did with Fox News. Watch the interview here. A Deeper Look...