10 Olympic Couples Competing Together at the Tokyo Games

A couple who wins medals together stays together.

10 Olympic Couples Competing Together at the Tokyo Games

Olympic couples—i.e., two Olympic athletes who are either dating, engaged, or married—have always been a thing, but at the Tokyo Games their presence is sweeter than ever. That's because for the first time the Olympics isn't allowing audiences to watch IRL. That means the athletes can't have the in-person support of their family and friends, which is no doubt tough. But Olympic couples at least have each other to make it through these few weeks. Who better to lean on than someone you're dating who also knows exactly what you're experiencing? Because they're experiencing it too.

These 10 pairs, below, are the epitome of that. You know what they say: A couple who wins medals together stays together.

Megan Rapinoe (women’s soccer, USA) and Sue Bird (women’s basketball, USA)

The couple announced their engagement in October 2020.

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Hunter Woodhall and Tara Davis (both track and field)

This is Davis's first Olympic Games; Woodhall, meanwhile, earned both silver and bronze medals at the 2016 Paralympics.

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Megan Jones and Celia Quansah (both women’s rugby, Great Britain)

“We never spoke out about [our relationship] initially, but when we did, the response was incredible,” Quansah said to BBC in June. “Everyone was like, ‘This is amazing—you're helping so many people by doing this.’ We didn't even think about it before. If we can help one person feel like they can be themselves, it just makes you want to do it more.”

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Sandi Morris (pole vault, USA) and Tyrone Smith (long jump, Bermuda)

These two married in 2019. Morris told CNN, “Our story is very embedded in the Olympics, and Rio is really where we got to know each other, spend time together, and I would go as far as to say we fell in love.”

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Edward Gal and Hans Peter Minderhoud (both The Netherlands, men’s equestrian)

These two have been together for over 10 years. According to The Advocate, Minderhoud told eurodressage.com in 2008, “Competitions are a way of life, and it is so much fun if you are with someone who precisely understands that and knows what you are doing, dedicating all your time to horses.”

Anissa Urtez (women’s softball, Mexico) and Amanda Chidester (women’s softball, USA)

Recently engaged, these two opened up to the Five Rings to Rule Them All podcast about competing against each other at the Olympics. “We’ve had a bunch of conversations about it,” Chidester said, according to outsports.com. “Whoever medals, we’re going to be happy for each other no matter what. No matter what.”