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  Rio 2016: College sweethearts ‘track’ a success story

Rio 2016: College sweethearts ‘track’ a success story

AFP
Published : Aug 21, 2016, 11:07 pm IST
Updated : Aug 21, 2016, 11:07 pm IST

Ashton Eaton and Brianne Theisen-Eaton are the power couple of the Olympics, a gold and bronze medal to their names, but they have little to talk about.

Ashton Eaton with wife Brianne Theisen-Eaton. (Photo: AP)
 Ashton Eaton with wife Brianne Theisen-Eaton. (Photo: AP)

Ashton Eaton and Brianne Theisen-Eaton are the power couple of the Olympics, a gold and bronze medal to their names, but they have little to talk about.

American star Eaton, who retained his decathlon crown in Rio, and his Canadian heptathlon bronze medallist wife, married in 2013.

They met as students at the University of Oregon and they are one of a number of medal winning couples in Rio.

But living in each other’s pockets, training and living together, makes them just a normal couple.

“I feel like we’ve put these goals ahead of everything else, including our marriage,” Theisen-Eaton admitted.

“We don’t go on dates, and we don’t really spend time together because we spend so much time together. So when we get home we just want our own time to do what we want to do by ourselves.

“And we don’t really have anything to talk about. We’re the couple that goes out to eat, and we sit at the table at a restaurant and look on our phones all the time.”

Ashton, 28, says he and his 27-year-old college sweetheart are a perfect match.

Success and failure makes them appreciate the struggles that go into their athletics careers.

“Our relationship helps us because we understand what each other are doing, like physically and mentally,” said the American who is the world record holder and two-time world champion.

“So because we do the same workouts and have the same coach, when she is struggling I can know exactly why, know exactly the things to say, and I think her likewise for me. That’s where it’s really good.”

The pair are not the only couple with medals from Rio to adorn their walls and shelves when they get home.

Ines Boubakri, won a bronze medal in the women’s foil for Tunisia, while her husband Erwann Le Pechoux was in the French foil team that lost to Russian in the men’s final.

Location: Brazil, Rio de Janeiro