The golden girls of Team USA who sprinted, hurdled and jumped to glory at the 2024 Paris Olympics are the queens of hearts, adored by their fans and their wanna-be, presumptive and legal spouses. Yes, Gabby Thomas, Sha’Carri Richardson, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Masai Russel are all taken, rumoured to be taken, or already taken. Here are the men in their lives.
Gabby Thomas
Olympics 200-metre champion Gabby Thomas is dating young entrepreneur and Ivy Leaguer Spencer McManes. He can understand the pressure she is under as a former athlete himself.
McManes played quarterback for Yale in his college years.
Gabby, 27, and the Yalie met in 2022 and have been going strong ever since. He was there for her in Paris, cheering her on to a golden treble – pure gold in the 200 metres, 4×100 metres, 4×400 metres.
Not just a jock, McManes, 29, has a degree in political science. After briefly holding a job, he got into business himself and owns a non-alcoholic kava seltzer brand called Kaviva. It promises to give you “the perfect buzz” without a hangover. The drink is touted to be “athlete approved”. By Gabby, no doubt. She just loves the guy behind the drink. Cheers.
Sha’Carri Richardson
Sprint queen Sha’Carri Richardson, 24, is rumoured to be dating fellow sprinter Christian Coleman. Though not officially confirmed, the two clearly became a twosome almost a year ago when they started going out at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. They have been showing up at each other’s events and spotted “getting cosy” on a number of occasions, including a night out in Paris after the Olympics.
One of them had reason to celebrate. Richardson won silver in the 100-metre before anchoring Team USA to 4×100-metre relay gold, but Coleman was out of luck. He missed out on the 100-metre and 200-metre and fumbled in the 4×100-metre relay, where the US team was disqualified because rules were broken in the baton exchange between him and Kenny Bednarek. Too bad, but, at least, he’s got the girl.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin officially tied the knot with former NFL player Andre Levrone Jr. 💍
(📸 IG/nicoleivanovphoto) pic.twitter.com/a69CFqnRmz
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) May 10, 2022
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, 25, kept faith with her fans, winning Olympic gold in the 400-metre hurdles as they expected, easily outstripping the world champion Femke Bol in Paris.
She has kept faith with her boyfriend, too.
McLaughlin-Levrone is married to Andre Levrone Jr, who graduated from the University of Virginia in 2017 and played three seasons as a wide receiver in the NFL. They got engaged in August 2021 and tied the knot in May 2022.
Faith is important in both their lives.
Devout Christians, McLaughlin-Levrone and her husband are part of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles. Andre is enrolled at The Master’s Seminary, which trains people for the ministry, and is affiliated with the church.
McLaughlin-Levrone’s twin golds in Paris – in the 400-metre hurdles and 4×400-metre relay — called for a celebration. So she and her spouse are off to a holiday in Greece.
Tara Davis-Woodhall
Olympics long jump champion Tara Davis-Woodhall’s life is a touching love story. She is married to Paralympian and double amputee Hunter Woodhall. (See picture at the top of the page.) Their love story began at a track meet in Idaho in 2017. It was a long-distance love affair, with Woodhall competing in Arkansas and Davis-Woodhall in Georgia and Texas, but distance cannot dampen true love.
Both competed at the Tokyo Olympics. Davis-Woodhall finished sixth in the long jump and Woodhall clinched bronze in the 400-metre at the Paralympics.
The lovers then got engaged in September 2021 and married in October 2022. Davis-Woodhall, 25, has got even better since marriage. She won gold in Paris.
Melissa Jefferson
Melissa Jefferson, 23, won bronze in the 100-metre and gold in the 4×100-metre relay in Paris. The Olympic success follows another personal milestone. Jefferson got engaged to her college sweetheart, Rolan Wooden II, in October 2023.
Wooden, a former Coastal Carolina football player, proposed at a beach picnic, a moment Jefferson happily shared with her followers on Instagram.
The couple met at Coastal Carolina University and Jefferson’s post-engagement Olympic success is a prelude to more happy years.
Masai Russel
Masai Russel, 24, who became an overnight star winning gold in the 100 metres hurdles, broke into tears after her victory. She was overwhelmed she won at the Olympics.
The newly-crowned champion also wrote a note to her boyfriend Robbie Springfield, thanking him for never giving up on her. They have reportedly been together since college, both having competed for the University of Kentucky. Springfield works in collegiate sports as an assistant at the Morehead State Cross Country team. Specializing in sprints and jumps, he is just the man to help his girlfriend on and off the track as well.