Epic Valentine's Day For Married Skaters Alexa And Chris Knierim

PYEONGCHANG, SOUTH KOREA — Some people expect gold for Valentine's Day, but for Alexa Scimeca-Knierim, a handmade construction paper heart from her husband, Chris, was more than enough. The married couple had just finished a less than flawless short skate program at the Pyeongchang Olympics. For a moment as Alexa held the homemade Valentine —which read "Will you (still) be my Valentine?"— to her chest, it was as though, despite a filled arena and millions of TV viewers, they were the only two people in the world.

The short program put the Knierims 14th place overall. For some athletes, losing a chance for a medal would mean talk of dashed hopes, of lost dreams. For the Knierims, who fell in love when they started skating together in 2012, it was a decisive victory. Less than two years earlier, Alexa, who gracefully pulled off a difficult quad twist during the team event Sunday, couldn't even get out of bed.

She was diagnosed with a rare and debilitating stomach issue that threatened her life wore her athletic body down to 80 pounds. Chris, who could effortlessly lift Alexa high above his head during competitions, was rendered helpless.

"I can lift her, throw her, catch her, but there was nothing I could do to help her. Even though that's all I wanted to do," Chris Knierim said through tears in a Feb. 8 interview with NBC Nightly News.

Alexa underwent three surgeries and nearly a year of recovery before she was able to try to skate again.

"First time on the ice [after her illness] Chris held my hands and he skated backwards and I skated forwards and he held me up...," She told TEAM USA in 2017.

Their long road to the Pyeonchang Olympics was littered with other life-changing challenges, too. Chris was sidelined with a broken leg and knee pain. They lost close family members.

So, when the Knierims took the ice on Valentine's Day 2018 in Pyeonchang, the stakes had already been much higher than they could end up being in this Olympic event. They had already won bronze in the team event; they already had each other.

>>Related: Addison Native Alexa Scimeca-Knierim Wins Team Bronze Medal

"We promised each other that no matter what happens, mistakes or not, we were going to be present in every moment," Alexa told NBC.

And that's what they did as they pushed through a daunting triple spin and held each other's hands, gliding along the ice to the words of "Come What May" from "Moulin Rouge:"

"Oh, come what may, come what may I will love you, I will love you. Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place."

Watch the Knierims perform in the pair's free program on NBC Sports Network Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Lead image credit: Associated Press, Bernat Armangue, AP