2023 was perhaps one of the biggest year in sports. This year saw several remarkable feats, achievements, records, and upsets recorded by the players. Interestingly, this is also the year when several Olympic sports personalities finally got hitched and moved onto the next stage of their lives.
The wedding of Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens was one of the most talked about affairs in 2023. While the gymnastics-football couple made several echoing headlines across the internet with their union, they weren’t the only ones to do so. Here are the five Olympic athletes who exchanged wedding vows with their significant other this year.
When Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens said ‘I do’
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Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens had started dating in 2020 and after several days of loving and bonding, got married on 22 April. Taking to Instagram, the four-time Olympic gold medalist wrote “I do officially owens” as she posted the images of her wedding.
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The Olympic athlete and the NFL player enchant social media with their photos as well as long-distance gestures. While Biles went from doing floor exercise routines to walking down the aisle, the same happened with a renowned US swimmer.
Backstroke Olympic champ Ryan Murphy takes a big step forward
Olympic gold medalist and backstroke specialist Ryan Murphy got married to Bridget Konttinen on 30 September this year. The college sweethearts decided to exchange wedding vows in California’s Everline Resort & Spa in Olympic Valley near Lake Tahoe.
Murphy said that the venue held a lot of emotional and sentimental value for Konttinen as she grew up skiing in the area. Moreover, while the bride described her wedding as “chic, rustic and vintage”, Murphy said it was cool to marry in a place called ‘Olympic Valley’. Just like Murphy, a Norwegian athlete also decided to anchor his love boat down with his partner.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen makes a long-distance life decision
Olympic gold medalist Jakob Ingebrigtsen got married to his girlfriend Elisabeth Asserson on 23 September. The long-distance runner took his seven-year long relationship to the next stage. The couple was dating each other when they were 16 and have also accepted each other as husband and wife.
The athlete is just 23 years old and didn’t wait for the right time to marry the right one. The duo got married in their home country of Norway. The wedding was organized with very close relatives and kept a cute and private affair. A similar approach was followed by another couple who decided to tie their horses together.
The union of two horse riders and two wedding gowns
December 9 saw the holy union of Olympic dressage equestrian Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and showjumper Rasmine Laudrup. Hailing from Denmark, both equestrians finally converted their engagement in June 2020 into marriage with close relatives in attendance.
The couple wore beautiful wedding gowns and shared their first kiss as a married couple at Castle Kokkedal in Copenhagen. The duo had been hyping their fans for months and shared their collection of jewelry and dresses with them. While all these Olympians got married in 2023, a future Olympic athlete was also blessed with the same fortune.
America’s future basketball Olympic team member gets hitched
NBA superstar Joel Embiid got married to his girlfriend Anne de Paula on 22 July. The couple met each other via a mutual friend and got romantically involved after starting as friends. They welcomed their first child in 2020, and are finally husband and wife now.
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Embiid had once made a post on Instagram for Paula and said, “I’ve trusted your process, you’ve trusted mine and it brought us to where we are.” Hailing from Cameroon, Embiid will be a future Olympic athlete in 2024 and represent the US in Paris. While these athletes have settled down with their match, US sprinter Trayvon Bromell also got engaged recently. Will he also soon become an Olympic athlete and then get married to his fiancé Alexys Lauryn?
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