When Nicola Adams won the first of her two Olympic boxing gold medals in London, the Brit took little notice of the American standing beside her with bronze hanging around her neck. But, as Adams revealed this week, she and Marlen Esparza are now life partners and newly-minted professionals -with one vow. "We've decided we'll never box each other," Adams laughed. "I couldn't dream of hitting her in the face." Probably a wise move for the success of the relationship but do those who play together, stay together? The signs are promising based on these three other happy couples who also excel in the same sporting field...
1 Jason Kenny & Laura Kenny (nee Trott) Britain's king and queen of the velodrome, the Kennys combined to claim five gold medals at last year's Olympics, taking their all-time tally to 10. The pair married a month after their exploits in Rio but no word on whether the wedding photos included all the bling. And with the couple's first child on the way, the odds must be short of the Kenny cycling legacy extending another 20 or 30 years.
2 Kate-Richardson-Walsh & Helen Richardson-Walsh A couple more Brits and a couple more gold medallists, only this couple won theirs alongside each other. The two hockey players began dating in 2008 and married in 2013, making the union even more successful three years later when, with Kate captain and Helen manning the midfield, the pair helped Great Britain claim their first gold in Olympic hockey.
3 Ashton Eaton & Brianne Theisen-Eaton Who would marry a decathlete, someone crazy enough to attempt not one sport, but 10? Well, how about a heptathlete, who can at least understand seven-tenths of the struggle. Eaton, the American world record holder and reigning two-time Olympic champion in the decathlon, certainly met his match in Theisen-Eaton, who won heptathlon gold for Canada at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games before taking bronze in Rio.
