The love side of 2024 Olympics: A Guide to All the Couples Competing at the Paris Games

What might test an athlete’s nerves more than competing on the world’s biggest stage?

If you guessed both being ready to prove one’s own physical and mental fortitude and cheering for your significant other’s quest for Olympic gold, then you’d be correct.

The 2024 Olympics kick off July 26 in Paris and a number of athletes are arriving in groups of two (plus coaches, trainers, family, etc.), the Games never without stars of their sport who’ve found love in a competitive place.

“If one of us had a really good practice, we might sit all afternoon and just talk about how great it was,” three-time Paralympic medalist Hunter Woodhall told E! News of life with long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall. “One, just to hype each other up and build that confidence and excitement and then, two, to cue some of those things that we could continue to work on.”

Your biggest fan and someone who understands your needs as an athlete? Sounds like a match made in heaven.

Get to know all couples—including sprinters Noah Lyles and Junelle Bromfield and married fencers Lee Kiefer and Gerek Meinhardt—headed to Paris to compete in the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics:

Hunter Woodhall and Tara Davis-Woodhall (USA)

Hunter Woodhall was born without fibulae, a condition called fibular hemimelia, and was 11 months old when he underwent a double amputation—but the physical challenge did not slow him down.

The Georgia native met Tara Davis-Woodhall at a high school track meet in Idaho 2017. And, as he recalled in a YouTube video, “I was like, ‘Damn, that girl’s fine. I’m gonna marry that girl.’”

They weren’t together from that moment on, Tara being from California, but chemistry and following each other’s rising careers on social media did the trick. The pair got engaged after the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021 and wed in October 2022 at a Texas vineyard. But while they both competed in Tokyo, they couldn’t cheer each other on in person due to COVID-19 restrictions. So you can imagine how excited they are for Paris.

“This is what we’ve been working on. And this is what we’ve been waiting for,” Tara told E! News in May. “And it’s going to be a special moment for sure.”

Noah Lyles and Junelle Bromfield

After less-than-golden finishes in Tokyo, Noah Lyles and Junelle Bromfield are sprinting for gold in Paris.

In the meantime, the track and field stars are living their best lives on TikTok, Noah making a deal with his girlfriend of almost two years in a recent video: “We go to the Olympics, I win every race, you win every race, we come back as the most winningest couple.”

She added, “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 (USA)

We’re not sure if arguments are settled with swords at home, but Lee Kiefer and Gerek Meinhardt have had each other’s back for more than a decade.

“She pushes me in ways to help me out of my comfort zone, her intensity inspires me,” Gerek, who met Lee in 2012 and married her in September 2019, told TeamUSA.com. “And I try to help her find the balance of not overdoing things. It’s about reaching your potential, and I think we bring a lot to each other in different ways.”

When his wife qualified for Paris, Gerek wrote on Instagram, “Words can’t describe how bad she wanted this, how hard she worked, or how proud of her I am,” while Lee wrote when he punched his ticket, “So proud!! My man fenced beautifully.”

In addition to being champion athletes, they’re are also future doctors. They pressed pause on medical school after their second year at University of Kentucky to focus on training for Tokyo, but plan to resume their studies in 2025.

Alise Willoughby and Sam Willoughby (USA, Australia)

Adelaide native Sam Willoughby, 32, was Alise Post’s fan from afar before he managed to meet her through MySpace. “Eventually,” he quipped to USA Today Sports in 2020, “I busted my way into her top friends list.”

Alise invited Sam to visit her in California and the rising BMX racing stars realized they wanted to ride tandem forever. He popped the question in December 2015 after eight years together.

When a devastating training crash in 2016, nine months after he proposed, ended Sam’s career and rendered him a quadriplegic, Alise was by his side throughout his recovery. “You’re not marrying a vegetable,” he recalled telling her as a way of letting her know she could pedal on without him. To which she replied, “You’re not a vegetable and the hell I’m not marrying you. You’re stuck with me.’”

While he still uses a wheelchair, Sam—now his wife’s coach—has defied expectations, managing to walk down the aisle wearing 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.”

Joe Kovacs and Ashley Kovacs (USA)

Ashley Kovacs, a four-time All-American in shot put at University of Kentucky, has coached her husband Joe Kovacs since 2019 and in February was named 2024 Paris Olympics Women’s Throw Coach.

Married since Nov. 18, 2023, the Kovacs have produced far more than a pile of shiny hardware: 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 the yard of their Ohio home. “We wanted to be able to have space where we could put a ring at our house so when they were down for a nap, that we could do what we needed to do.”

Added Joe, “Never have been happier in my life with my wife to the kids. It’s the best life I could’ve ever wished for.”

Gabriella Willems and Christian Parlati (Belgium, Italy)

“We’ve supported each other for seven years, and sharing this moment is a dream come true,” judo star Gabriella Willems, who got injured before the last Games, told Olympics.com of getting to experience Paris with fellow judoka Christian Parlati, who competed in Tokyo. “Hopefully, July 31st [the day of their respective finals] will be a happy day filled with tears of joy for both of us.”

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 he was shown 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 having 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 ring fits),” she wrote on a March post marking four years with Alex—but their love is game, set, match.

In fact, she knew over an impromptu cup of coffee after they ran into each other at 6 a.m. while staying at the same hotel that he was the one.

“Growing up, I was always super-close to my grandpa,” she told The Age in June. “I always said to myself that if I can find someone who has half his heart, I’ll be the luckiest woman in the world. I’ve found that person in Alex.”

Lea Schüller and Lara Vadlau (Germany, Austria)

Lea Schüller, who plays forward for Bayern Munich, will be making her Olympic debut with the German women’s soccer team. And not only can two-time Olympic sailor Lara Vadlau show her the ropes (and tie them into nautical knots), Paris will give them the opportunity 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, who’s a doctor in her spare time, said in an interview for her partner’s footoball club, “that you’re away a lot and don’t see each other that often.”

Added Lea, “We often only see each other for three to five days at a time. It’s a bit like a long-distance relationship. Not because we live in different places—we live together in Munich—it’s just one of us is always away.”

Rossella Fiamingo and Gregorio Paltrinieri (Italy)

“I am excited as if I am the one competing,” fencer Rossella Fiamingo told Olympics.com of watching her fiancé in the pool—or, if he competes in the 10K open water swim in Paris—the River Seine.

And Gregorio Paltrinieri is all in on Rossella’s sport, too, which he called “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 catch 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 No. 1 supporter.

Knowing Rossella was disappointed the Italian team only won silver, Gregorio added, “There are races in which you can do better and others worse, but it’s part of the journey. It happens to me too, but I never lose faith. This is what I will tell her, not to lose faith.”

Dominik Cerny and Hana Burzalova (Slovakia)

Dominik Cerny had Paris in mind when he proposed to Hana Burzalova at the finish line of the women’s 35km race at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest last August.

“We have been together for almost one Olympic cycle, almost four years,” he told Olympics.com afterward, “so I think it was the right time.”

They weren’t speed-walking to the altar, he added, but “maybe we will decide only two days in advance. We like to do random things. At the Paris Olympics maybe we will start as the Cerny family—maybe in the new event, the race walk relay.”

Way to keep the world on its toes while keeping one foot in contact with the ground at all times.

Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils (Ukraine, France)

Tennis champs Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils, married since 2021, have both done this whole Olympics thing before, but it’s the first time they’ve done it as parents, welcoming daughter Skai in October 2022.

“She’s a great mother first,” Gael told reporters at the Miami Open in March 2023 after he and his wife had made the second round. “That’s first. People want to put tennis first but I think she’s a great mother first. This is the most important for me as her husband because of course we are a tennis couple but life is beyond our sport.”

Elina has also stressed that she’s more than a tennis player, telling TIME in April, “I feel like I have the opportunities to help and also play for Ukrainian people, with their unbreakable spirit. Each time I step on the court, each time that I play a tennis match, I represent the Ukrainian people and their strength.”

João Chianca and Luana Silva (Brazil)

The men’s and women’s surfing events are taking place at Teahupo’o on Tahiti, more than 9,500 miles away from Paris and the rest of the Games—but at least João Chianca and Luana Silva will have each other!

Source: E NEWS