10 Paralympic Athletes Who Have Relationships With Other Paralympians or Olympians

Competing in the Paralympic Games is undoubtedly one of the greatest experiences an athlete can have – and some of them get to share that experience with someone who totally understands them!

Here are 10 Paralympians who are currently in relationships with other Paralympic or Olympic athletes:

1.American Paralympic athlete Hunter Woodhall married American Olympic athlete Tara Davis-Woodhall in 2022.

They met at a high school track meet in Idaho in 2017. They hit it off, and while watching Tara race, Hunter told his best friend, “I’m going to marry that girl.”

The next day, after Hunter’s race, Tara met him on the side of the track and hugged him. They spoke briefly at the awards ceremony and later reconnected on social media.

They began dating long-distance a few months later. After competing at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, they got engaged during a trip to Mexico.

During the 2024 Paris Olympics, a clip surfaced online of Tara falling into Hunter’s arms after winning the gold medal in the long jump final.

She told People magazine: “I wasn’t on social media much, so I don’t know how much it went viral! Everyone told me the whole world saw it, (but) it was just Hunter and me. He’s my biggest fan, and I think the whole world saw how much he supports me.”

Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP via Getty Images

2.Brazilian Paralympic badminton player Rogerio Junior Xavier de Oliveira and Brazilian Paralympic volleyball player Edwarda Dias got engaged during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Rogerio proposed on the court after the match.

Rogerio is kneeling on the court, holding a ring box and a sign with the words

Edwarda in a T-shirt and pants plays sitting volleyball during a match at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.

Alex Slitz / Getty Images, Elsa / Getty Images

They met at the Paralympic Training Center in São Paulo and started dating in 2018.

In 2022, Edwarda started playing badminton and the pair played together in the mixed doubles.

In 2023, Rogerio told Olympics.com: “When I met Edwarda, she was already a Paralympic medalist. I had a lot of admiration for her because I also want to be a Paralympic medalist. Being with her gave me more energy to achieve that.”

3.The return to Paris holds special significance for Robyn Love and Laurie Williams, two of the GB Paralympic Wheelchair Basketball players, as they got engaged under the Eiffel Tower in 2020.

They have been together since Robyn joined the GB basketball team in 2014.

The couple welcomed their daughter, Alba, into the world in 2023.

Robyn told the Herald: “A lot of people tell us they can’t imagine working with their partner all the time. We’re together 24/7 all the time and honestly, I don’t think I would be as good a player as I am if it wasn’t for her, and I think she would say the same. Since she came back from having her baby, she’s been the best player she’s ever been. It’s amazing; women are just amazing. I can’t believe what she’s done.”

Behrouz Mehri / AFP via Getty Images

4.Italian Paralympic swimmers Stefano Raimondi and Giulia Terzi welcomed their first child, Edoardo, on February 26, 2024. Their son watched them compete in Paris.

Stefano and Giulia met in Ostia during a national team meeting.

He told Paralympic.org: “She is the light of my life. She gave me energy when I wasn’t feeling my best.”

Pietro D’aprano / Getty Images

5.Nigerian table tennis players Christiana Alabi and Kayode Alabi, who married in 2022, are the first African couple to compete at the Games.

6.Oksana Masters, a multi-sport athlete and current U.S. National Cycling Team member, and Aaron Pike, a multi-sport athlete and current wheelchair athlete, became engaged during a trip to the Grand Tetons in 2022.

They met skiing, which Oksana started doing after the 2012 London Olympics. During a cross-country skiing competition, Aaron caught Oksana’s eye in the shared kitchen because he drank coffee from a piston coffee maker and she loves coffee.

They became closer during the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Their relationship “blossomed naturally” as they traveled to see each other.

Oksana told the Washington Post: “I couldn’t let this happen in the winter and let him get away.”

Momodu Mansaray / WireImage / Via Getty

7.Great Britain Paralympic rower Lauren Rowles has become engaged to former Great Britain Paralympic basketball player Jude Hamer.

Jude slid into Lauren’s Instagram DMs during the first UK coronavirus lockdown in 2020. They chatted about their shared interests in CrossFit and pet rabbits.

In 2021, Lauren told the Telegraph: “I wasn’t out; I didn’t want to be labelled, but Jude gave me the confidence to do it; being with her, we took that step together. I was worried because companies see me as a box-ticking exercise: their eyes light up when you say, ‘I’m gay, disabled and a woman’. I am all of those things, but I can be more of what I say and what I do. That will come from sharing my experience, being open and visible.”

The couple welcomed their son, Noah Arlo, on March 24, 2024.

Gareth Cattermole / Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images for GAY TIMES

8.American Paralympic athlete Kym Crosby married former American Paralympic wheelchair athlete Erik Hightower in 2018.

9.Indian Paralympic kayakers Prachi Yadav and Manish Kaurav got married in 2020.

10.And finally, British wheelchair Paralympians Hannah Cockroft and Nathan Maguire plan to marry immediately after returning from Paris.

They first met in 2012 at a Youth Sport Trust talent day where Hannah, fresh from the London Paralympics, was a special guest. Nathan asked her for her autograph.

They later reconnected at trainings and events, and after a year and a half of friendship, he asked her out. He proposed in 2021, while they were on vacation in Copenhagen after the Tokyo Olympics.

Writing for the Telegraph, Nathan wrote: “Being together has made us both better athletes. On days when Hannah doesn’t want to train, I’ll say, ‘Come on, let’s go,’ and she’ll do the same for me. We’re both licensed trainers, so we’re constantly keeping an eye on each other and reviewing each other’s races. If one of us comes off the track after a bad race and says, ‘I don’t know what happened,’ the other one can say something like, ‘You slipped on the third push.’ We want each of us to do well. I’m almost more proud of Hannah when she does well than I am of myself when I do well.”

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