Valentine’s Day seems like the perfect occasion to mix romance and sport as we have seen quite a lot of ‘power couples’ over the years. Some were made up of 2 athletes, some of an athlete and a different celeb who’s not part of the sports world, and some of an athlete and a relatively unknown individual that rose to fame after his or her affiliation to that athlete. After a lot of thinking and consideration, and taking into account ONLY couples that are still celebrating today’s Valentine’s Day in each other’s company and aren’t separated, like Tom Brady and Giselle for example, here’s our top-10 list.
10. Caroline Wozniacki and David Lee
We start our countdown with the Danish former #1 ranked Wozniacki who also has an Australian Open (2008) to her name and the former NBA ace David Lee, most notably known for his time at the New York Knicks and the Golden State Warriors, winning the NBA title with the latter in 2015. Exactly 7 years ago, on Valentine’s Day of 2017, the tennis star announced that the two were dating and later that year they got engaged. The pair got married in 2019 and have two children together.
9. Bastian Schweinsteiger and Ana Ivanovic
Another multi-sport combo involving tennis has another former WTA #1 seed Ana Ivanovic and World-famous footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger. The former French Open champion and ‘Schweiny’ have been a couple for almost a decade and will celebrate their 8th wedding anniversary later this year. 19 club titles might be a great accomplishment, but most likely Schweinsteiger’s prime pride is his three children with Ivanovic who undoubtedly share excellent genetics of well-accomplished sportspeople as parents.
8. Patrick and Brittany Mahomes
The freshly crowned three-time Super Bowl winner and ex-association footballer got married 3.5 years ago after being high school sweethearts with Brittany giving up on her professional sports career, turning into a fitness trainer and later owner of NWSL team Kansas City Current alongside husband Patrick and another couple, Angie and Chris Long. While Patrick is pursuing his NFL career, Brittany and the Longs run the NWSL team around the clock and make sure everything is ticking correctly.
7. Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird
A combination of legends in their respective sports, footballer Megan Rapinoe and basketballer Sue Bird are undoubtedly a couple to be reckoned with when it comes to power couples ranked by achievement. They might not be the glam and posh side of a sports-meets-Hollywood connection but each has contributed a lot in her field. Rapinoe is considered one of the most iconic female footballers not only for the USWNT but worldwide, crossing barriers that were never crossed before, while Bird is a WNBA icon, 12-time All-Star, and 5-time Olympic Gold medalist who also had huge success abroad, winning the Women’s EuroLeague on 5 occasions.
6. Andre Agassi and Stefi Graf
Our first same-sport combination for this list, Agassi and Graf were the King and Queen of tennis in the 90s. Both former #1 seeds in their respective categories, Agassi and Graf have a total of 30 Grand Slams among them (most under Graf’s name). The couple have two children but despite sharing the DNA of two tennis greats, the kids decided not to follow in their parents’ footsteps, much to the disappointment of curious tennis enthusiasts.
5. Claudio and Danielle Reyna
Starting our top-5 with another same-sport couple, Claudio and Danielle Reyna (nee Egan) have a respectable reputation behind them in soccer. With Claudio becoming one of USMNT’s legends amassing 112 caps for the Stars and Stripes and playing for the likes of Rangers and Man City, Danielle was a trailblazer in women’s soccer across the USA alongside Mia Hamm and Kristine Lilly. Later on, when the couple married in 1997, Danielle retired to take care of her children, with one of them, Giovanni, becoming quite the star himself as he plies his trade for Premier League’s Nottingham Forest, on loan from German giants Borussia Dortmund and already capping 24 times for the USMNT, scoring 7 goals in the process.
4. Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift
Here comes the glam! Undoubtedly the most-mentioned couple in 2023 and early 2024 are NFL Champion Travis Kelce and Grammy Award-winning Taylor Swift. Since the rumors broke that the two are an item, the NFL’s viewership numbers soared sky-high among the female audience due to Swift being ‘part of the deal’ and it reflected as well on the Super Bowl’s viewership numbers as well as the odds for Swift-related situations like Kelce popping the question on-field to the 34-year old singer (an event that is yet to happen). Despite Kelce earning millions as per his Kansas City Chiefs contract, he’s nowhere near the $900M-estimated pop queen.
3. Lionel Messi And Antonela Roccuzzo
Arguably the best footballer in history and childhood sweetheart Roccuzzo have known each other from an early age back home In Rosario and when Messi went to Spain to take his chances at Barcelona who could aid his growth problem, Roccuzzo was left behind. Eventually love prevailed and she followed ‘La Pulga’ to Spain, where as teenagers they kept their relationship secret, coming out as a couple only in 2009 when Roccuzzo was already 21 years old. Her ties to the football icon undoubtedly opened some doors for her as she received modeling campaigns, notably for Adidas just like her husband, but she didn’t let fame get to her head as she’s involved in many philanthropical activities as well. The couple has 3 sons, Thiago, Mateo, and Ciro, and the football fanatics can’t wait to see how will the kids turn out in comparison to their legendary father.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodriguez
The main competition for Messi’s GOAT status, Cristiano Ronaldo met Georgina Rodriguez while she was working at a clothes shop in a Madrid suburb-based mall. Since then the 5-time Ballon D’Or winner and Georgina have welcomed 2 children together (Another child unfortunately died during birth) and Rodriguez also acts as an adoptive mother to CR7’s other 3 kids. Like Roccuzzo, Rodriguez rose to fame due to her liaison with the football great, but she’s not riding the coattails of her famous beau as she makes a name for herself in the modeling and designing industry. Rodriguez also acts as an ambassador for ‘Save the Children’ as well as other organizations that deal with child poverty.
1. David and Victoria Beckham
If you thought someone else could top this list, you’re being irrational. The first REAL power couple combined England’s most famous footballer of the late 90s-early 2000s with a member of the most popular band during that time. The result? Worldwide headlines about the couple on EVERY possible occasion. “What David ate for breakfast”, “What Victoria wore to their date” and non-stop paparazzi following their every single step. According to Victoria, eventually, that was the last straw that drove her out of Madrid and David followed suit behind his wife as the couple relocated to LA.
Both multi-millionaires from the hundreds of endorsement campaigns that they did as well as successful careers each in their respective field, the Beckhams are the #1 power couple until someone could challenge them for that title.
