For Grant Holloway, the 2021 silver medalist may be looking to put USA on a gold-winning podium in the 110m hurdle for the first time since 2012, but there’s more to his heart than just winning in the City of Love.

Who better than his long-time girlfriend Katie Chronister, a three-time SEC champion softball pitcher and Gatorade Player of the Year recipient, accompanying the three-time world champion? First introduced as student-athletes at the University of Florida, “Who knew that the boy that lived on the floor above me… would become my partner for life,” Katie shared on their anniversary 4 years back. And it looks like the couple is still going strong. Only this time, their seventh anniversary turned a tad rosier, thanks to the City of Romance. She posted,

“Not many people can say they are spending their SEVEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY taking a flight to Paris to see their man compete in the Olympic Games…. That is the life you’ve blessed me with, Grant.

“I have no words. I am the luckiest girl in the world. Thank you for choosing me every single day. Being loved by you will never get old. 19-year old Grant and Katie would be so proud. I’ll save the sappiness for later. It’s time to handle some business. I’M FIRED UP. See you soon baby boy.”

Grant too posted a small sweet note for Katie, “Honored to share this journey of growth alongside you. Grateful for your unwavering support that has carried us through every challenge and celebration. You are a key piece to the puzzle.”

The 2016 Gatorade Player of the Year hasn’t completely left her “pitch” fever. She is currently working as the Assistant Coach (for pitching) for the Santa Fe College softball team and a pitching instructor at Proball Academy in Newberry as she is set to graduate from UF Law in 2026. As for Grant, he is probably looking to earn that one international gold—besides the world championship, world indoor championship, and Diamond League—that has evaded his athletic pursuance till now.

Not just his girlfriend, but Grant’s parents including his father Stan, who trained him and his older brother Trey as members of Track 757 Club until high school, are all in attendance in Paris to keep Grant in his best spirits. In fact, Grant wouldn’t hear otherwise unless they came to watch him possibly win the gold this time, a privilege that certainly wasn’t in the books during the last Games. His mother Tasha said,

“He’s said it a million times. It’s priceless at this point. Of course, the first Olympics, he wasn’t able to experience the family (and) friends’ support here with him. Well, physically, with him. So to have everyone here, it’s setting him up to do great things.”

His father continued, “Yes, we just saw him. He looks good, strong, confident. He reminded us, ‘Hey, I’m here to take care of business.’ So it was good to see that.” His father certainly is spilling the truth. Guess what Grant said when NBC reporter Maria Taylor approached him for a small chat? Taylor posted on her IG, “During the Opening Ceremony @flaamingoo_ said he will be speaking with me again after he won [gold-medal emoticon].” Would she finally be given the chance to follow up on the promise? Well, yes!

Grant Holloway’s Olympic dreams fulfilled! Feel the burn? 

The 26-year-old was looking to end the wrongs of the Tokyo Olympics. That time, he missed the gold by just a small margin. It was a surprising result, especially because during the trials he had set up the second-fastest timing for 110m hurdles at 12.81 seconds. Still, on race day, things didn’t go as planned for Holloway, but that only acted as fuel to his fire, a fire that had to wait for another three years to cool down.  

The world champion’s journey through the Paris Olympics continued to impress everyone. Holloway finished with an electrifying 12.98 seconds in Heat 1 and was the fastest qualifier for the finals before going on to clinch gold in 12.99 seconds in the finals. It definitely looks like it’s one of the most one-sided races of this year’s games, with his teammate Daniel Roberts in second place for the silver medal (13.09 seconds). It wouldn’t be wrong to say Holloway brought a firehose to the final outing when he said, 

“Everybody in that heat has run something hot. But it’s my job to control it, it’s my job to put out everybody else’s flame, and I was able to do that today.

“Tokyo was three years ago. Obviously (Jamaica’s) Hansle (Parchment) ran a great race,” Holloway said. “This was my time. It wasn’t redemption. I just wanted to make sure I came out here and get to the finish line before anyone else, and that’s what I did.”

So when Taylor posted the aforementioned post on her Instagram, she followed up with a “Well, hi! @flaamigoo_ [Grant Holloway].” Well, time has ultimately come for Holloway to bag the laurels as he lands a career “Grand Slam!”