8 Olympic Couples Competing at the Tokyo Olympics
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Olympic couples
The Tokyo Olympics are all set to begin, and the anticipation among athletes as well as the audience is high. During these tough times thousands of Olympians, as well as Olympic staff as well as journalists, are making their way to Japan where they will be participating in the Games from 23rd July to 8th August. The Olympics were supposed to be held last year, but unfortunately got postponed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.
However, among these athletes will be couples who will be taking part, be it in different sports or the same event, even in the same team. Let us take a look at eight Olympic Couples that will be making an appearance at the Tokyo Olympics.
Olympic Couples that will be at the Tokyo Olympics
1. Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe
Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe got engaged in October 2020, after initially meeting at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Sue Bird plays in the WNBA and will be representing the US at the Tokyo Olympics this year, while winger Megan Rapinoe is a US National Team Football player.
Rapinoe was named 2019 Best FIFA Female Player of the Year and took home the gold at the 2012 London Olympics. Bird is considered to be one of the best players in WNBA history and has won 4 gold medals at the Olympics between 2004 and 2016. Between them, the power couple holds 5 Olympic medals already and will be looking to add more to their tally this year.
2. Laura Kenny and Jason Kenny
Laura and Jason Kenny are both cyclists representing Great Britain, who got married in 2016. The couple has 10 Olympic Gold medals between them. Jason won 6 gold medals and 1 silver medal at the Olympics, winning one gold and one silver at the Beijing Olympics, two golds at the London Olympics, and 3 golds at the Rio Olympics.
Laura Kenny is Great Britain’s most successful Olympic female competitor in any sport, winning 4 gold medals, 2 of them at the 2012 Olympics and the other 2 at the 2016 Olympics. The couple will be going to the Olympics together and will be in the running to become the most decorated Great Britain Olympians ever.
3. Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das
Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das have become synonymous with Archery in India. The couple got married on 30th June 2020. They will be representing India in recurve archery in the individual events and will be partners in the mixed team event. They are favourites to win a medal in Archery for India this year.
Kumari will be going into the Tokyo Olympics ranked first in the World, after claiming a clean sweep at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Stage 3 tournament in Paris. This will be Kumari’s third Olympics and Atanu’s second Olympics, where they will be hoping to finish on the podium.
4. Sandi Morris and Tyrone Smith
Sandy Morris and Tyrone Smith both compete in athletics and got married in 2019. Although long jumper Tyrone represents Bermuda at the Olympics, he lives in the US and will be making his way to his fourth Olympics this year.
Sandi Morris won a silver at the Rio Olympics in the pole vault. They will be competing in their first Olympics as a husband and wife. This will most likely be Smith’s last Olympics, while Morris will try to better her record to win a gold at the Tokyo Olympics this year.
5. Charlotte Caslick and Lewis Holland
Charlotte Caslick and Lewis Holland had been dating for a few years before they got engaged in January of 2020, but had to postpone their wedding due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Caslick and Holland are both Australian Rugby players and competed in the Rio Olympics together as well.
Caslick won gold at the Rio Olympics in the Sevens Rugby, while Holland and his team placed eighth. The couple will be looking to get married in December 2021, hopefully as successful Olympians.
6. Megan Jones and Celia Quansah
Megan Jones and Celia Quansah are both on Great Britain’s Rugby Olympic team that will be going to the Tokyo Olympics this year. The couple has been dating for a long time, and are LGTBQ+ activists. The couple spent lockdown practicing together and will be making going to their first Olympics this year.
7. Edward Gal and Hans Peter Minderhoud
The Dutch couple Edward Gal and Hans Peter Minderhoud will compete in dressage at the Tokyo Olympics this year. They have been together for over a decade and have competed together at previous Olympics as well. Gal became the first horse-rider partnership ever to sweep the three available dressage gold medals at a single FEI World Games.
Both of the riders have won an Olympic medal. Gal won a bronze in the team dressage at the London Olympics, while Minderhound won a silver in the 2008 Olympics in the team dressage.
8. Gerek Meinhardt and Lee Kiefer
Gerek Meinhardt and Lee Keifer are both Olympic fencers who represent the United States. They both started dating in 2012, got engaged in January 2018, and married in September 2019. At the Tokyo Olympics, Meinhardt and Kiefer will each compete in foil fencing individual and team competitions.
Meinhardt is a three-time Olympian and won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the team event. Keifer is currently ranked 5th in the world, while her husband will be going to the Tokyo Olympics ranked 2nd, and are in contention to finish on the podium this year.
Also read: Tokyo Olympics 2020: Spain Football team Preview and squad
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Saivee Phatak
(1164 Articles Published)