US Army Soldier Calls His 2026 Winter Olympic Figure Skating a ‘Miracle’

Published: February 19, 2026

By Mallory Mattingly

U.S. Army solider Spencer Akira Howe credits his faith for bringing him to the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

Though the 29-year-old American figure skater and his partner, Emily Chan, were unable to secure a medal, the pair finished seventh after an impressive final run and would be Team USA’s top finishers.

“We worked so hard to get to this stage,” Howe told U.S. Figure Skating on Monday. “And once you make it, your brain doesn’t know how to process that. It’s hard to explain. We just felt grateful to be here and to be able to skate as well as we did. It’s a huge blessing for us.”

Howe and Chan have been paired together since 2019; both have had their fair share of injuries that have held them back. In 2025, Howe enlisted in the United States Army as an 88M Auto Transport Operator and became the first figure skater in the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP).

Though the pair worked tirelessly to get to Milan this year, Howe credits his faith as his guiding light.

“If people know our story and they don’t believe in God, they should believe in God after this,” he said in an interview with NBC DFW. “Because we just felt like this whole competition for us has been one big miracle.”

Once Howe retires from figure skating, he plans to transition to an Army Chaplain so that he can point others to God.

“If all goes according to plan,” he said in a separate interview earlier this month. “As I retire from competitive figure skating, I will simultaneously be transitioning into the Chaplain Corps.”

“It’s definitely a unique situation: I’m a soldier in the U.S. Army competing,” he told Stars and Stripes. “But in reality, I’m a person who’s trying to do God’s work and see how I can serve others.”

Howe often shares his faith publicly on his social media platform.

“If God is not trying to change your situation, He is likely trying to change you,” he posted on Instagram. “It’s been quite the road to recovery, but it’s taught and continues to teach me new things about myself and my purpose! Amen.”

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Though Howe and Chan didn’t walk away from the Olympics with a medal, his faith in God will continue to guide his future in figure skating and as a solider.

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