US pairs champions to begin training with Olympic champion

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - Two-time U.S. pairs champions Alexa Scimeca-Knierim and Chris Knierim have decided to change their coaches and will work with Olympic gold medalist Aliona Savchenko and her group beginning this summer.

Scimeca-Knierim and Knierim, who represented the U.S. at the Pyeongchang Olympics, had been working with Dalilah Sappenfield in Colorado Springs for the past five-plus years.

Now, the married couple will be working alongside a six-time world pairs champion in Savchenko, who captured her long-elusive Olympic gold medal with Bruno Massot in South Korea. The entire group will be based in Chicago and Oberstdorf, Germany.

Scimeca-Knierim said in a statement that she was appreciative of the work Sappenfield had put in for them, including on the programs that helped the U.S. win team bronze at the Winter Games.