Married United States figure skating couple Alexa Scimeca-Knierim and Chris Knierim commemorated their Thursday skate at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in honor of the 17 people killed in the Valentine’s Day school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
While the Knierims did not qualify for an Olympic medal with their performance Thursday, Scimeca-Knierim told media after their program that they were skating with a heavy heart after they had learned of the shooting carried about by Nikolas Cruz at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
“I think I kind of put pressure on myself today, because I wanted to honor those who are lost and skate really well for them and kind of have somewhat of a happy moment for our country,” she told the press after their performance.
However, the couple’s skate did not go as well as they would have liked.
“[U]nfortunately, [there were] too many mistakes today,” she explained. “It was one of our lowest scores. And I think I’m maybe just being too tough on myself, but [I] wanted to lift the spirit of those who are probably mourning right now.”
According to The Washington Post, the two-time U.S. National Pairs champions heard about the shooting hours before their skate as they watched broadcast coverage on CNN in the athletes’ warm up room.
“We’re still privileged and lucky to be doing what we’re doing and it’s so sad that 17 people died from the United States,” the 26-year-old Scimeca-Knierim said. “I told Chris today that the world is so much bigger than us.”
“I’m disappointed at the way we performed today,” she continued. “But there are so many people hurting at home getting the news that their children have died. … We’re hurting for them.”
Click here to read more.
Source: Christian Post
BCNN1 WP 