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No one can understand the highs and lows of the Olympic and Paralympic Games quite like an elite athlete, so it's unsurprising that so many of them have found love with someone who knows exactly what it feels like to be the best in the world.
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Here are the 18 couples competing at the 2026 Olympics and Paralympics:
1. US bobsledders Kaysha Love and Hunter Powell got engaged in 2025.
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These former college athletes got to know each other at track and field meets. After earning her degree, Kaysha decided to try out bobsledding. A mere two years later, she made her Olympic debut at the 2022 Games. She later convinced Hunter to try the sport with her. He told CSURams.com, "She's telling me I really ought to try this out. 'I think it'd be really good. You're really strong, so you know,' all the BS. I told her, 'You're out of your freaking. Not a chance. No way.' She ended up talking me into it, doing this combine that they had out in Salt Lake to where, if you're one of the top three guys in the combine, they would pay for you to go out and do a rookie camp."
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"I think they had something like 150 people total at the combine. I ended up having the top performance, and they did pay for me to go out and do a rookie camp out in Lake Placid," he said.
Milano Cortina 2026 is Kaysha's second Games and Hunter's debut. Kaysha told Bustle, "I've been using wedding planning as a mental distraction on some of the training days. So we have actually planned like 90 percent of our wedding. We're really excited. We'll be getting married on September 3."
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She also told the Associated Press, "We have love for one another, but at the end of the day, he’s my teammate when we're out there training or practicing. For me, it's a secret weapon to have a teammate that you know only has trust and belief in you. When I know that I am supported, I just feel like I'm able to do unthinkable things."
2. US ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates are partners on and off the ice! They got married in 2024.
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When Madison Chock was a teenager, she left California for snowy Michigan to pursue her passion on the ice. In 2008, she met and briefly dated Evan. After breaking up, they stayed friends, but that wasn't the end of their story!
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Madison and Evan reunited as skating partners in 2011. Then, after five years, they fell in love again — and this time, it was forever! They're going to the Olympics together for the fourth time, and it's Evan's fifth Games. They won a gold medal in 2022.
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Related: In Only 10 Questions, I'll Determine Which Winter Olympic Sport Is Your Secret Calling In Another Life
3. Canadian ice hockey players Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey got married in 2024.
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Sparks first flew between the teammates during a magical moment after a Team Canada event at the Blue Mountain Resort in 2017. Laura told CBC, "A few of us decided to go skinny dipping in the pool at 2 a.m. The two of us looked up into the sky at the same time, and we saw a shooting star. Our eyes met, and we asked each other if we just saw that. Nobody else in the pool saw it or knew what was going on, but we saw it. For the rest of that night, it was a weird feeling. I had a feeling. We always go back to that moment. Even in my wedding vows, that was the thing — that she was the wish I had always dreamed of, and I didn't realize it until now."
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Marie-Philip said, "You should have seen the skyline the weekend of our wedding. It was so bright and magical. Stars everywhere. I believe in those little signs."
When they were free agents being scouted ahead of the PWHL draft in 2023, they were adamant that being engaged didn't mean they both had to be on the Montreal team (Marie-Philip's hometown, a no-brainer that she would play for them). Laura was treated as a separate player, and she was ultimately picked for Montreal not because of her relationship, but because she was so good that the team "just didn't want to lose her." Laura said, "The first couple of games it was like, how do we do this? Do we just talk about it in the car? And then when we get home, it's over? And I don't think that worked that well because I know for myself, I just can't get over things that quickly... We just kept driving."
4. US para Nordic skier (and para cyclist and para rower in the Summer Games) Oksana Masters and US para skier and biathlete (and wheelchair racer in the Summer Games) Aaron Pike got engaged in 2022.
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Skiing, which Oksana took up after the 2012 Games, is what brought the couple together. During a cross-country event in Utah, she noticed Aaron drinking coffee from a French press in the communal kitchen. As a coffee fan, her interest was piqued, and they started talking. She told the Washington Post, “I don't trust easily at all. It felt like I knew him my whole entire life. I felt like I could just fully be myself and relax and genuinely be my random, goofy self."
However, things didn't take a romantic turn until the Sochi Games two years later. She ran to catch the same ski gondola as him. Afterwards, he gave her a big hug — and that was the moment that changed everything. Oksana told NBC, "His hugs are so powerful. I don’t know what's in them or what you're doing, but baby, it was like that missing link."
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They were on the same flight from Russia to Germany, but after they parted ways to catch their different flights home, she was sad that she didn't know when they'd be together again.
She told the Washington Post, "I could not let this be a thing that happened during the winter and let him be the one who got away."
Their friendship "naturally bloomed" into something more over trips to see each other and through exchanging care packages and letters.
After eight years of dating, he recreated that magical moment on the ski gondola for his proposal, asking her to marry him on a cable car at Grand Teton National Park. The 2026 Games is their eighth Paralympics.
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5. Brazilian skeleton racer Nicole Silveira and Belgian skeleton racer Kim Meylemans got married in 2025.
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They met through their sport in 2019 and went IG official two years later. Nicole told Outsports, "As time went on, our connection grew stronger, and well, here we are now. We talk a lot about how this is a very unique situation. Where we are actually competing in the same sport but against each other. It's fun and challenging all at the same time."
Sharing news of their nuptials in a joint Instagram post, they said, "Surrounded by our family, we said yes to forever and we couldn't be happier to call each other wives. We're still having our big dream beach wedding next year but Skeleton, the Olympic Games and our olympic dreams have commanded every aspect of our lives for a long time now - and our wedding is/was one of them. Combining an olympic season with the amount of planning needed for and the logistics of a dream destination wedding felt impossible BUT at the same time, we've also been ready to say I do for over 1,5 years now, so we decided to have this mini civil ceremony now."
At the 2026 Games, they're competing against each other at the Olympic level for the second time. It's Kim's third Olympics and Nicole's second.
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6. Finnish ice hockey player Ronja Savolainen and Swedish ice hockey player Anna Kjellbin got engaged in 2024.
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Related: Olympians Are Showing Off Their Rooms At The Winter Games, And Simone Biles Has Reacted
Their love story is a real-life Heated Rivalry! They first met playing against each other in the Swedish Women's Hockey League. They started dating in 2019, and in 2024, they signed to opposing teams in the PWHL. Ronja plays for the Ottawa Charge, and Anna plays for the Toronto Sceptres. However, they'd hoped to be drafted to the same team. Ronja told the Ottawa Citizen, "We kind of knew it was never going to happen; We were super lucky that we are so close to each other. It was the best thing that could happen, that she got drafted there, and I got drafted here. I was more nervous to see where she was ending up than where I ended up."
But they're not hesitant to challenge each other on the ice. Ronja said, "I don't care who's in front of me … if it's going to be her, I'm going to hit her. We can take it up after the game. When you play, you just play. You don't really think about who's there. You're friends after. On the ice, she's my enemy. That's how it goes." Milano Cortina 2026 is Ronja's third Games and Anna's second.
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7. Canadian curlers Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant got married in 2022. They play together as a mixed doubles team.
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The sport they love brought them together! In a Team Canada Instagram reel, Jocelyn said, "Being teammates on the ice and off it, I think that's kind of all we've known. That's how we met playing mixed doubles. So, it's not like it's something that we've had to learn."
They have a son named Luke. Both athletes appeared at the 2022 Games, where Brett won a bronze medal. The 2026 Olympics is their first Games as a mixed doubles team.
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8. US snowboarders Hailey Langland and Red Gerard have been in a relationship since they were teenagers.
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Red told TMJ4 News, "We met in Mount Hood. ... I think we were both 12 years old or something, and we stayed really good friends for a long time and grew up snowboarding together. Started dating when we were 17 or 18. ... It really was just a friendship that developed into a relationship."
Hailey said, "There's not a lot of couples who are within the same sport or even, more or less, both athletes. It's really nice to get to have a partner who really understands, and there's just a lot of benefits to having a partner with you." Milano Cortina 2026 marks their third Olympics together.
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9. US ice hockey player Hilary Knight and US speed skater Brittany Bowe have been dating since 2022.
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After knowing each other in passing for years, they fell in love at the 2022 Olympics. Brittany told People, "That was the biggest win coming out of Beijing for sure ... Hilary and I have known each other for a number of years through different Team USA events, a number of different Olympics, but that's the first time we really did have time to connect and get to know one another. And it was everything other than glamorous, that's for sure! Hilary would ask, like, ‘Oh, do you want to go for a walk after dinner?’ And that was our first date, going to walk around the Olympic Village masked because everyone was so fearful of getting COVID. [It was] a very unique way to meet someone, but it was also kind of cool because we felt like we were in this bubble."
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“We didn't have the family, the friends, no outside distractions. And we really had a lot of time just to get to know each other," she said.
Related: 24 Historical Pictures From Every Winter Olympics That Are Honestly Mind-Blowing When You See How Far The Games Have Come
The couple lives together in Salt Lake City. Brittany is a three-time Olympian, and Hilary is a four-time Olympian. Both returned for the 2026 Games — and so did their families! Brittany said, "I know both of our families are really excited to watch both of us compete. My family's already got their hockey tickets, and her family's getting the speed skating tickets. So, just to have more people in the stands that love you, support you, are part of your journey — that will make it really special."
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10. Swiss curlers Briar Schwaller-Hürlimann and Yannick Schwaller got married in 2022.
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The 2026 Games are the couple's Olympic debut. On Instagram, Briar said, "Dreams really do come true. To chase them with my better half by my side makes it even more special."
Their son River went viral after an early curling match in Milan. Briar told Reuters, "I got my son after the game, cuddled him, he wanted to get down pretty quickly. He saw the curling broom, took it, and held it like a rock star and threw off the whole entire show. It was just really nice to see him again after the first few days. We haven't seen him since we've been here, so for us, it was more just enjoying the family time. We didn't realize that the cameras were there and that it would go viral, and things happened. I guess he's known as the 'Curling Baby' now."
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11. US freestyle skiers Ashley Caldwell and Justin Schoenefeld got married in 2025.
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They met when Justin joined the US Ski Team in 2018. At the time, Ashley had been considering retiring, but watching him have fun the way she used to reignited her love for skiing. She told the Washington Post, "Justin and I, we just clicked so much that there was just no stopping us from dating each other." Initially, they kept their relationship a secret, but it was hard for others not to notice.
They got married in ski clothing. Their mountaintop wedding was officiated by their teammate, Chris Lillis. Ashley qualified for her fifth Olympics less than a year after welcoming their son, Harvey. The 2026 Games is Justin's second.
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12. Norwegian curling mixed doubles partners Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten are married.
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They first crossed paths at the European curling championship in 2008. At the time, she was competing, and he was working on the ice crew. He was hard to miss — when she first saw him, he was wearing a wig, goofing off in the bleachers. However, they didn't actually talk to each other until 2011, when they ran into each other at a honky-tonk-themed curling party. Later on, she traveled out of the country for an internship, so he volunteered to "water her plants," which turned into him moving into her place.
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Within a year, they became partners on the ice as well. Magnus told AP, "Just after finishing a game, we say one emotion to each other. I will say I'm angry, she will say 'I'm pissed.' Then we go for half an hour to our separate spaces and come back together to analyze what was actually the objective. We usually manage to shake it off." The 2026 Olympics mark their third Games together.
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13. Italian ice dancers Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri have been together since 2009.
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They met online on the Partner Search forum, which figure skaters use to find partners. Marco told Ice-Dance.com, "When I changed back to ice dance, I only got in with four months experience with a previous partner, and Charlene with a bit more but still limited experience. ... The first few years were really quite difficult, but we are very proud to have believed in ourselves whilst not many people believed in us at the start of our career. We also had the struggle with Charlene's passport: we started skating together in the first of the four years that led to Sochi 2014 Olympic Games. We knew that the standard procedures to obtain a passport in Italy would have not allowed her to get one before the games, but luckily we managed to facilitate that process thanks to the help of receiving sporting merits."
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He also told Olympics.com, "Since we are a couple in life, it's a way to share literally everything, all the emotion. It would be still very nice, of course, to achieve what we achieved separately. But since we achieved what we achieved together, it's even better because you are sharing very strong feelings and very strong emotions with the person you love, with the person you've decided to spend your life with. It's special for sure." The 2026 Games is their fourth Olympics together.
14. US luger Emily Fischnaller (formerly Sweeney) and Italian luger Dominik Fischnaller got married in 2025.
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They started dating as teenagers, and they were in a long-distance relationship for 15 years! Getting married was a challenge because of Italy's complex rules, but they were able to throw a courthouse wedding nine days after they were approved. Emily told the Associated Press, "The actual day, it was pretty perfect. Even at the end of the day, Dominik said he had his perfect wedding, which I never thought was possible for him to say."
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Related: After Lindsey Vonn's Horrifying 2026 Olympics Crash, Her Sister Gave An Update On Her Condition
They live in Italy. The 2026 Games is her third and his fourth. He said, "I tell her she can’t get hurt because I feel the pain even 10,000 times more than she feels her own pain. I'm extremely nervous when she's sliding. I almost can't watch the race."
15. Latvian lugers Elīna Ieva Bota and Mārtiņš Bots got married in 2024.
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They had a beautiful wedding and even took pictures with a horse. The Milano Cortina Games are the second Olympics for both of them.
And now, here are the three Olympians at the 2026 Games whose partners are former Olympians:
16. US cross-country skiers Novie McCabe and Luke Jager are a longtime couple. They've seemingly been together since 2022.
They met on the University of Utah skiing team, then they transferred to Alaska-Pacific University's Nordic Program together. In a 2023 Instagram post, Luke said, "So grateful for the times I got in college, and now I'm feeling very thankful that [Novie] agreed to move to Alaska with me! (no one show her the forecast) Not totally sure what the future is gonna hold for us, hopefully a lot more ski racing, but in the mean time we're looking forward to laying low for a while and trying to enjoy it all."
Both competed at the 2022 Olympics, and Novie will compete at the 2026 Games.
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17. US bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor and two-time Olympic alternate Nic Taylor got married in 2014.
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In 2011, they had a phone call right after his tryouts. She worked for the US bobsled federation at the time, and they needed to discuss his paperwork. He told CNN, "It was crazy. I wasn't sure who she was at all. But we were on the phone for hours, into the evening, and I was walking around laughing like I was on the phone to an old friend."
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Two years later, Nic popped the question during the World Championships podium ceremony. When they got married, their vows included a secret bobsled handshake. They have two sons, Nico and Noah. Nic is not competing in the 2026 Olympics, but five-time medalist Elana is back for her fifth Games!
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18. And finally, US alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin and Norwegian alpine skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde got engaged in 2024.
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They first met around 2015. On her podcast What's the Point, Mikaela said, "So we met in Chile, like 10 years ago, and flash forward to the Atomic Media Day, which happens every year in October, we met again and had this dinner, where you and I were the only athletes to arrive the night before the media day happened. So you and my mom and my agent and I had dinner together, just the four of us. It was a nice time, and it was chill and whatever, and, like, a little bit awkward. ... So, we had this dinner, and then we did the Atomic Media Day, and I was like, 'Is this guy interested in me? I don't know.'"
They're taking their time with wedding planning because of their skiing careers. Aleksander said, "The first thing, when I asked you [to marry me]... 'No rush. We don't have to do this now. I just know you are the woman of my life, and that's gonna happen.'"
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In 2024, Aleksander had a horrible crash, and Mikaela was the first person he saw when he woke up. He told ESPN, "It was a very tough moment for both of us, but at the same time, very beautiful." The 2026 Games would've been the fourth Olympics for both of them, but Aleksander ultimately withdrew to focus on his continued recovery.
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