BEIJING, China — Phoenix-native Brandon Frazier and his figure skating partner Alexa Knierim may be creating magic on the ice at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, but it’s the magic Frazier created off the ice that is getting some attention.
Knierim is married to Chris Knierim. Chris used to skate with Alexa, the two won the bronze medal in the figure skating team event at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. He now coaches his wife.
But before there was Alexa and Chris, there was Chris' friendship with Brandon.
“Chris and I, way back in the day when we were both living in Colorado, we used to do a lot of things together: fishing, hiking and obviously training together. I was there when Alexa moved [to Colorado] and we would invite Alexa to come fishing and stuff,” Frazier told the “Today Show” hosts on Monday.
According to Frazier, he was the go-between for Alexa and Chris on the trio’s outings.
“I was in between. I was whispering back and forth, ‘he likes you, she likes you,'” Frazier said.
The Knierims became skating partners in April 2012 and began dating about a month later. They became engaged in April of 2014, marrying on June 26, 2016.
The couple now lives in Irvine, CA, where Frazier and Alexa train together.
“We never thought we’d be here now,” Alexa said during the "Today Show" interview.
Chris stepped back from the sport in February of 2020. When Frazier’s partnership with figure skater Haven Denney ended in March of 2020 he paired up with Alexa.
In Beijing on Sunday, the duo placed third in the pairs short program in which they scored a personal best of 75.00. However, the duo placed fifth in the free skate portion of the team event, where they struggled with some elements of their routine.
Despite their struggles, Frazier and Alexa Knierim helped Team USA win the silver medal in Sunday night’s team figure skating competition.
Frazier is also set to compete in the individual, pairs figure skating event with Knierim. Here’s how and when to watch them:
- Individual event: Pairs- short program
- Date: Friday, Feb. 18, 2022
- Time: 3:30 a.m. MST
- TV: CNBC and USA
- Streaming: NBCOlympics.com
- Re-air: 6:30 p.m. MST on NBC/ 12 News
- Individual event: Pairs- free skating (medal event)
- Date: Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022
- Time: 4 a.m. MST
- TV: CNBC and USA
- Streaming: NBCOlympics.com
- Re-air: 6 p.m. MST on NBC/ 12 News
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