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Meet the 11 Adorable Couples Who Are Competing Together at 2024 Paris Olympics
Paris is a lover’s paradise; and as the city of love hosts the 2024 Olympics, get to know 11 Olympian couples like Noah Lyles and Junelle Bromfield who’ll be competing with their loved ones!
Falling in love is one thing, but doing it in the City of Love and competing on the grandest stage with your soulmate is a whole different level! When people in the same profession date, it makes perfect sense—they understand the lifestyle and how to support each other. This rings especially true for athletes who are not just dating, engaged, or married, but also competing together in this year's Paris Olympics.
Here's a look at 11 Olympian couples who will compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics:
Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall
For track-and-field stars Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall, a double amputee, their love story fittingly began on the track during a high school meet in Idaho in 2017. When Woodhall saw Davis-Woodhall, it was love at first sight. “I was like, ‘D---, that girl’s fine,’” he recalled in a YouTube video. “I’m gonna marry that girl.” Five years later, he did just that, tying the knot in October 2022 at a Texas vineyard.
At the Paris Games, the married duo will both chase gold in track-and-field events for Team USA: Davis-Woodhall will showcase her speed in the long jump, while Woodhall competes in his third Paralympics.
Noah Lyles and Junelle Bromfield
After not getting the gold in Tokyo, Noah Lyles and Junelle Bromfield are ready to sprint for gold in Paris.
Meanwhile, they're living their best lives on TikTok. Noah recently caught the eyes of his fans by pulling out Yu-Gi-Oh! Card for his 100-meter intro at the Olympics. Now, he’s winning hearts on social media. Noah Lyles, on TikTok, made a deal with his girlfriend of almost two years: “We go to the Olympics; I win every race; you win every race; we come back as the most winningest couple.”
She replied, “I see that baby… I’m picking up what you’re putting there, and I won’t drop it. I got the vision… I'm ready to make it happen. We are going to be the most winningest couple.”
Lee Kiefer and Gerek Meinhardt
Olympic gold medalist fencer Lee Kiefer met Olympic medalist Gerek Meinhardt in 2012, and they got married in 2019.
For Team USA fencers Lee Kiefer and Gerek Meinhardt, competing together at the Olympics is routine; they’re heading to their third as a couple, with a fourth for Kiefer and a fifth for Meinhardt.
Both have taken medals home to Lexington, Kentucky, with Meinhardt claiming two bronze medals in the men’s team foil in the past two Olympics. Kiefer made Olympic history for Team USA at Tokyo 2020, winning the first-ever individual foil gold.
The person most thrilled for her? Her husband.
"My wife just made my #Olympics dream complete," Meinhardt wrote on social media. "Words can't describe how bad she wanted this, how hard she worked, or how proud of her I am," he added.
“So proud!!” Kiefer wrote on Instagram with celebratory photos of Meinhardt’s medal. “My man fenced beautifully.”
Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina
Possibly one of the most high-profile couples at this year’s games, Gael Monfils and his wife Elina (née Svitolina) have been together since around 2019.
Though they briefly split two years into their relationship, they couldn’t stay apart. They reconciled, got engaged, and got married on July 16, 2021. They welcomed their daughter, Skai, a year later.
Alise Willoughby and Sam Willoughby (USA, Australia)
Adelaide native Sam Willoughby was a fan of Alise Post from afar before meeting her through MySpace. “Eventually,” he joked to USA Today Sports in 2020, “I busted my way into her top friend list.”
Alise invited Sam to visit her in California, and the rising BMX racing stars realized they wanted to ride together forever. He proposed in December 2015, after eight years together.
A devastating training crash in 2016, nine months after his proposal, ended Sam’s career and made him a quadriplegic. Alise stood by him through his recovery. “You’re not marrying a vegetable,” he told her, letting her know she could move on without him. She replied, “You’re not a vegetable, and the hell, I’m not marrying you. You’re stuck with me.”
Sam, now his wife’s coach, has defied expectations, managing to walk down the aisle with braces at their 2019 wedding.
“After the accident, I knew I wanted to be his rock from the word go,” Alise said. “Now, he’s my rock when I’m racing. It’s kind of come full circle.”
Gabriella Willems and Christian Parlati
Judo stars Gabriella Willems, a five-time IJF Grand Slam medalist, and two-time World medalist Christian Parlati are a couple competing at this year’s Olympics on the same day.
This will be Christian’s second Olympics and Gabriella’s first (she got injured before the Tokyo Olympics). “We’ve supported each other for seven years, and sharing this moment is a dream come true,” Gabriella told the Olympics.
João Chianca and Luana Silva
As professional surfers, Brazilian couple João Chianca and Luana Silva seem to never stray too far from the sea, filling their Instagram pages with photos of them surfing, walking on the beach, or just relaxing near the water.
They’re still in the running to bring back the big prize to their home country.
READ MORE: Who are The Oldest And Youngest Olympians at the Paris 2024 Olympics? Find Out
Katie Boulter and Alex De Minaur (Great Britain, Australia)
After qualifying for Tokyo in 2021, tennis player Alex De Minaur had to drop out after testing positive for COVID. So he and Katie Boulter, who played mixed doubles at Wimbledon together in 2023, will both be making their Olympic debuts in Paris.
Alex joked during a post-match interview in January after seeing a sweet comment Katie left on his Instagram: “I’m actually surprised she said something nice about me. Normally, every time she goes on social media to reply to my posts or whatever, it’s always taking a dig at me. So it’s nice every now and again to get a compliment.”
Katie may have a cheeky sense of humor—"calm down, not engaged...just the only finger that fits,” she wrote in a March post marking four years with Alex—but their love is game, set, match.
She knew he was the one over an impromptu cup of coffee after they ran into each other at 6 a.m. while staying at the same hotel.
Lea Schüller and Lara Vadlau (Germany, Austria)
Lea Schüller, a forward for Bayern Munich, will be making her Olympic debut with the German women’s soccer team. Two-time Olympic sailor Lara Vadlau can show her the ropes and tie them into nautical knots. Paris will give them a chance to be in the same city for three whole weeks.
“I find it really helpful because both of us understand what you have to do for your sport,” Lara said in an interview for her partner’s football club, “that you’re away a lot and don’t see each other that often.”
Joe Kovacs and Ashley Kovacs (USA)
Ashley Kovacs, a four-time All-American in shot put at the University of Kentucky, has coached her husband Joe Kovacs since 2019 and was named 2024 Paris Olympics Women’s Throw Coach in February.
Married since November 18, 2023, the Kovacs have more than a pile of shiny medals. They welcomed twins Kannon and Kaari in October 2022.
“Everything is about them all the time, so we train when they nap,” Ashley told WCMH, explaining why they have a shot put ring in their Ohio home’s yard. “We wanted to have space where we could put a ring at our house so when they were down for a nap, we could do what we needed to do.”
Joe added, “Never have I been happier in my life with my wife and kids. It’s the best life I could’ve ever wished for.”
Rossella Fiamingo and Gregorio Paltrinieri (Italy)
“I am excited as if I am the one competing,” fencer Rossella Fiamingo told Olympics.com about watching her fiancé in the pool—or in the River Seine if he competes in the 10K open water swim in Paris.
Gregorio Paltrinieri loves Rossella’s sport, too, calling it “beautiful to watch.” After adding another gold and silver to his tally at the 2023 World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, Gregorio made a surprise stop in Milan to see the team épée final at the World Fencing Championships.
“Rossella didn’t know; she was shocked,” he told Olympics.com afterward. “She asked me last night [about being there], and I told her I was exhausted.”
Well, he may be a trickster, but he’s also her biggest fan.
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