{"id":13099,"date":"2018-02-21T17:59:18","date_gmt":"2018-02-21T22:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=13099"},"modified":"2018-02-21T17:59:18","modified_gmt":"2018-02-21T22:59:18","slug":"god-helps-married-olympic-figure-skaters-conquer-adversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2018\/02\/god-helps-married-olympic-figure-skaters-conquer-adversity.html","title":{"rendered":"God Helps Married Olympic Figure Skaters Conquer Adversity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/files\/2018\/02\/2015_Grand_Prix_of_Figure_Skating_Final_Alexa_Scimeca_Chris_Knierim_IMG_8490.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13100\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2018\/02\/2015_Grand_Prix_of_Figure_Skating_Final_Alexa_Scimeca_Chris_Knierim_IMG_8490-185x300.jpg\" alt=\"2015_Grand_Prix_of_Figure_Skating_Final_Alexa_Scimeca_Chris_Knierim_IMG_8490\" width=\"185\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>In Pyeonchang, figure skaters Chris and Alexa Kneirim glided across the ice in what a television commentator called a \u201cmiracle performance.\u201d Two years previously, Chris Kneirim had to hold his wife steady because his wife, Alexa, was unable to stand without assistance. Alexa suffered from a rare, life-threatening gastrointestinal condition in 2016. Alexa spent much of the night before her wedding vomiting. During the worst of her condition, she would spend 10 to 12 hours every few days vomiting. In addition, she suffered from debilitating pain and struggled to eat, drink or sleep. \u00a0Her weight fell to just over 80 pounds and she lost control of all her muscles and body mechanics. It took the Kneirims 10 doctors and countless emergency room visits to finally get a correct diagnosis for Alexa. Once the disease had a name, Alexa faced down the operating room. She had two surgeries in August 2016 and a third in November 2016.<\/p>\n<p>Given Alexa\u2019s condition, no one expected the pair to return to the ice. Instead, Alexa began training again just three months after her final surgery. Part of what gave her the strength to put her skates back on was her faith. \u201cWhen my body was at my weakest,\u201d she said. \u201cMy faith was at its strongest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alexa made her way back to her old performing strength. Two years after her diagnosis, the Kneirims went to Pyeonchang for the 2018 Winter Olympics where they helped Team USA take home the bronze medal. Given their past, the bronze is deeply important to the skating pair. \u201cThis competition\u2019s very meaningful for us,\u201d Alexa said. \u201cWe\u2019ve kind of been lacking the joy and lightheartedness of life for about two years now, from all the struggles we\u2019ve been through, so being here together, Chris and I are kind of enjoying it.\u201d As for their skate itself, the bronze would normally be a bit of a letdown for the only U.S. pair to ever break the 200 point barrier. Given the circumstances, however, both Kneirims are thrilled to simply be competing. \u201cToday wasn\u2019t a brilliant skate by any means, but we\u2019re just so happy to be here,\u201d Alexa said. \u201cWe\u2019ve already won by being able to stop on the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both Kneirims agreed that their faith helped them deal with Alexa\u2019s health struggles and get back to the sport they love. \u201c[My faith is] the reason I was able to get back on the ice,\u201d Alexa said. \u201cI stopped worrying and stopped trying to control life, because I couldn\u2019t. In the moment, you know, I was so sick and didn\u2019t really know where things were going to go for me, whether it was skating or life in general. So I finally just threw my hands up and said like, \u2018You lead the way,\u2019 and it\u2019s my testimony and I stay true to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alexa also sees the Olympics as an opportunity to \u201cglorify God.\u201d \u201cEven here at the Games, it\u2019s no longer about me,\u201d she said. \u201cI have fans out there who know that I am a true believer in the Lord and I\u2019m trying my best to shine His light and let people know that it\u2019s okay to promote Him and do things for Him, because in the Christian life that\u2019s kind of what we\u2019re supposed to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Pyeonchang Olympics will continue through the end of the week with the closing ceremonies taking place on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Pyeonchang, figure skaters Chris and Alexa Kneirim glided across the ice in what a television commentator called a \u201cmiracle performance.\u201d Two years previously, Chris Kneirim had to hold his wife steady because his wife, Alexa, was unable to stand without assistance. Alexa suffered from a rare, life-threatening gastrointestinal condition in 2016. Alexa spent much&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":616,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3630,3383,3638],"tags":[3643],"class_list":["post-13099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-athletes","category-christian-celebrity","category-olympics","tag-married"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>God Helps Married Olympic Figure Skaters Conquer Adversity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two years ago, Alexa Kneirim could not even stand without assistance, but she and her husband, Chris, helped Team USA take home the bronze in figure skating.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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