Knierim and Frazier Look Forward to Historic Opportunity at Worlds

Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier find themselves in an unfamiliar position going into the 2022 World Championships: They're the favorites.
 
When Knierim heard that Worlds would be without any skaters from Russia or Belarus due to the ongoing situation in Ukraine, she wondered if Olympic champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong of China would compete.
 
After all, it's not uncommon for Olympic champions to skip Worlds, which follow just a few weeks later.
 
Then Knierim found out both Chinese teams would not go to Montpellier, France.

"I was like, 'The field has definitely opened up,'" she said.
 
With the top five Olympic finishers from Beijing staying home, that leaves Knierim and Frazier as the next team in line. Their sixth-place result was the best by a Team USA pair at the Olympics in 20 years.
 
"Brandon and I kind of caught ourselves really quickly and tried to stay away from any thoughts of what that means because we haven't been in that position before," Knierim said. "We went into the Olympics and all of our other events just trying to skate well and it worked, so this time it's a little different for us because of the elephant in the room."
 
Team USA last made the world podium in 2002. An American duo has not won the gold since Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner in 1979.
 
Frazier said he tries to stay level-headed no matter how the competition stacks up.
 
"I just thought, 'Oh, good opportunity,' and then it kind of fades away and you get back to business as usual just getting ready for Worlds," Frazier said.
 
With Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc placing eighth at the Olympics, that gives Team USA two podium possibilities. Cain-Gribble and LeDuc, the 2022 U.S. champions, are actually the top-ranked team entered at Worlds according to the International Skating Union standings (which comprise three seasons). They are fifth while Knierim and Frazier, who began their partnership in March 2020, are eighth.
 
A year ago, three Russian teams and the two Chinese teams swept the top five places at Worlds, while Team USA had an encouraging outing with Knierim and Frazier seventh and Cain-Gribble and LeDuc ninth.
 
Their top competition in Montpellier, with competition beginning Wednesday, should come from Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan, who were seventh at the Olympics, and Karina Safina and Luka Berulava of Georgia, who placed ninth.
 
"There's definitely multiple pairs there that are in contention, but they (Knierim and Frazier) are well-trained and I feel like if they lay it out there they have as good a chance as anyone," said Todd Sand, who leads the coaching team for Knierim and Frazier along with his wife Jenni Meno.
 
Meno and Sand were part of a previous generation of pair skaters who kept Team USA in the conversation for medals. They won the World silver medal in 1998 and bronze medals in 1995 and 1996.
 
Team USA has not had two teams on the podium since 1949 – silver for Karol Kennedy and Peter Kennedy, who won the gold a year later and the Olympic silver medal in 1952, and bronze for Ann Davies and Carleton Hoffner.
 
"I think we should shoot for two, why not?" said Meno.
 
"Obviously it would be great if we could get one and it would be really special if we could get two teams on the podium, especially for those of us who have been in it for so long," said Sand.
 
While Knierim, 30, and Frazier, 29, are veterans, they are still a relatively new pairing.
 
"From the minute they started skating together, we knew this was the right partner for Alexa," Meno said.
 
She said their line, their communication and the fact that Frazier and Chris Knierim (now one of their coaches), were already friends made them a promising team.
 
Almost immediately, the world locked down due to the pandemic and they practiced their first lifts in a park. Within a year, they were U.S. champions.
 
"We're very proud of what they've accomplished in a short period of time," Sand said.
 
Knierim and Frazier had to miss the 2022 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships when Frazier came down with COVID-19, but their misfortune turned into a bonding experience.
 
After Frazier recovered, they regrouped and skated both the short program and free skate in the Olympic team event, where Team USA won the silver medal.
 
Coming back 11 days later for the pairs competition, they were sixth in the short program and capped the Beijing Winter Games with an exhilarating free skate.
 
"What made the free program and our performances at the Olympics so magical," Frazier said. "It was just how Alexa and I took everything we went through as a team over the past two seasons and the trust for each other synched up perfectly. I know we can do that again."
 
They arrived home to a joyous welcome at the airport, with about 50 people and a local television crew waiting for the pair, who train in Irvine, California.
 
"I've never felt so much love and support from our family and friends and training mates," Frazier said. "It was actually overwhelming."
 
Knierim said they received "a lot of praise and gratitude, a lot of compliments on how we represented our country with respect and pride."
 
And now they have a chance to do it again.
 
"I'm sure there are a lot of people that like pressure; some thrive off of it," Knierim said. "I personally like to just keep my head down and not feel like there's a ton of expectation on me. I think more athletes feel that way than the other way, but I think if there is pressure on you, that just shows that people believe in you."
 
Sand said that while they appreciate the opportunity before them, "It's hard coming back and training after the Olympics. You're on such a high, especially since they did so well."
 
But the coaches and skaters all believe Knierim and Frazier are up for the task.
 
Frazier said one of their strengths is that they are both "so personally driven" and are able to focus on themselves.
 
"We have a lot of gratitude for everything we have been able to accomplish," he said. "I'm going to go into Worlds with that full-throttle attack mode, but at the same time, I think it's very normal and natural at this stage of our career to appreciate every second while we're there – not try to worry about having to recreate a specific moment and just be super present and enjoy it."
 
Knierim said they won't change anything in their approach.

"We didn't do anything special or different before we skated (at the Olympics)," she said. "There was no ah-ha moment,' like, 'We have to do this before we compete.' We were just ourselves."
 
But there is one aspect of their free skate they'd like to improve.
 
"I want to do my triple Sal(chow) this time," said Frazier, who doubled the jump in Beijing.
 
Meno said they practice every full run-through as though they are in competition.

"They work harder than anybody," she said. "They both are very determined and very motivated. They know exactly what they want and they set out to get it."
 
After Worlds, Knierim and Frazier will leave France immediately for the "Stars on Ice" tour in Japan and then in the United States. They are excited about the shows, in which they plan a spin-off of their free skate program to "Fix You."
 
Then they will assess what they want to do next.
 
 A world medal could help define their careers.
 
"More than anything, we're just trying to finish the season strong and whatever happens, happens," Knierim said. "But of course you hope it happens in a positive way."