Alexa Scimeca Knierim Biography

Alexa Paige Scimeca Knierim (born June 10, 1991) is an American pair skater. With her husband, Chris Knierim, she is the 2016 Four Continents silver medalist, the 2014 Four Continents bronze medalist, and the 2015 U.S. national champion.

Personal life

Alexa Scimeca was born June 10, 1991 in Addison, Illinois. She became engaged to Chris Knierim on April 8, 2014. They married on June 26, 2016 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Early career

Scimeca began skating in 1998. She was coached by Trish Cazeau Brown and Sergei Telenkov from 1998 to 2008, by Maria Jezak-Athey in 2008-09, and by Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova from 2009 to 2011.

In the 2011-12 season, Scimeca competed with Ivan Dimitrov, with whom she trained in Connecticut.

Partnership with Knierim

Scimeca teamed up with Chris Knierim in April 2012. They train together in Colorado Springs, Colorado under coaches Dalilah Sappenfield and Larry Ibarra.

2012-13 to 2013-14

The pair won gold at their first international event, the 2012 Coupe de Nice. After a number of withdrawals by other teams, they received a Grand Prix assignment, the 2012 NHK Trophy, where they finished fourth.

Scimeca/Knierim won the silver medal at the 2013 U.S. Championships. They were assigned to the 2013 Four Continents Championships but withdrew just before the event "? Scimeca injured her right foot in practice. Scimeca/Knierim were named to the U.S. team for the 2013 World Championships after Caydee Denney / John Coughlin withdrew. They placed ninth in their World Championships debut.

2014-15 season

Scimeca/Knierim won the gold medal in their first ISU Challenger series event at the 2014 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic and won the bronze medal at 2014 Nebelhorn Trophy. They were assigned two Grand Prix events, placing fourth at both 2014 Skate America and 2014 Trophe ric Bompard.

At the 2015 U.S. Championships, Scimeca/Knierim captured their first national title, setting new U.S. record scores in both the short program and the free skate. They also became the first American pair team to perform a quadruple twist in competition.

At the 2015 Four Continents Championships, Scimeca/Knierim placed fifth and earned new ISU personal best scores of 124.44 in the free skate and 187.98 total, setting new records for the highest scores ever achieved by a U.S. pair team in an international event. At the 2015 World Championships, the pair placed seventh. They then competed at the 2015 World Team Trophy, finishing fourth in the short program and third in the free skate, which ultimately helped Team USA win the gold medal. Scimeca/Knierim earned new personal best scores of 127.87 in the free skate and 192.09 total, setting new records once again for the highest scores ever recorded by a U.S. pair team in international competition.

2015-16 season

Scimeca/Knierim began their season at 2015 Nebelhorn Trophy where they won the silver medal behind reigning Olympic champions Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov. The team then competed at 2015 Skate America where they won the silver medal. They earned a new personal best short program score of 69.69, setting a new record for the highest score ever achieved by a U.S. pair team in international competition. The following week, they won the gold medal at 2015 Ice Challenge in Graz, Austria.

Scimeca/Knierim went on to win the bronze medal at 2015 NHK Trophy which helped qualify them for the 2015-16 Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, where they placed seventh. They are the first U.S. pair since 2007 to qualify for the Grand Prix Final. The pair entered the 2016 U.S. Championships as the heavy favorite for the title, but won the silver medal after costly errors.

At the 2016 Four Continents Championships, Scimeca/Knierim won the silver medal in their best competitive outing to date. They earned new personal best scores of 140.35 in the free skate and 207.96 total, which are the highest scores ever recorded by a U.S. pair team in international competition. A subsequent injury to Knierim limited the team's training before the 2016 World Championships, where they placed 9th. They were 7th in the short program with a personal best score of 71.37, which is the highest score ever achieved by a U.S. pair team in international competition. The pair then competed for Team North America at the inaugural 2016 KOS Team Challenge Cup, where the team won the gold medal.

2016-17 season

Scimeca Knierim/Knierim's summer training was interrupted by Scimeca Knierim's illness which began in April 2016. She underwent successful stomach surgery in September, and the pair resumed light training later that month. They withdrew from both of their Grand Prix events, the 2016 Rostelecom Cup and 2016 Cup of China, and the 2017 U.S. Championships. The pair has resumed full training.

Programs

(with Knierim)

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2016-17	Come What May	Unchained Melody
2015-16	Nothing Else Matters	Elizabeth: The Golden Age	Rise Up The Flower Duet
2014-15	El Tango de Roxanne	An American in Paris	Girls Just Want to Have Fun Macho Man You Are So Beautiful
2013-14	Papa, Can You Hear Me?	Ever After	Hopelessly Devoted to You You're the One That I Want Summer Nights
2012-13	Moonlight Sonata	Life Is Beautiful Last of the Mohicans 500 Nations	Just a Kiss

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series

With Knierim

International
Event	12-13	13-14	14-15	15-16	16-17
Worlds	9th		7th	9th
Four Continents	WD	3rd	5th	2nd	6th
Final				7th
Bompard			4th
Cup of China		5th			WD
NHK Trophy	4th			3rd
Rostelecom Cup		6th			WD
Skate America			4th	2nd
Ice Challenge				1st
Nebelhorn			3rd	2nd
U.S. Classic			1st
Cup of Nice	1st
Nepela Trophy		3rd
National
U.S. Championships	2nd	4th	1st	2nd	WD
Team events
World Team Trophy			1st T 4th P
Team Challenge Cup				1st T 3rd P
WD = Withdrew T = Team result; P = Personal result. Medals awarded for team result only.

With Dimitrov

National
Event	2010-11	2011-12
U.S. Championships	WD	10th
WD = Withdrew