In the entertainment world, it’s common to see celebrities that work in similar areas (actors, musicians, etc.) be in highly publicized, romantic relationships. For athletes, however, it may not be as common, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t cases of love on and off the field or court. Take, for instance, longtime couple Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe. The former WNBA legend and soccer star are royalty in their respective fields and have collectively earned a total of seven Olympic medals for their accomplishments in sports.
According to People, the two met at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and started dating shortly after. The couple got engaged in 2020. Rapinoe gushed about Bird in a 2021 interview with People, saying, “I feel like every time she does something, I’m like bursting with pride and she’s just doing so many things out in the world that really are making a difference . . . I think I pinch myself all the time thinking how lucky we are to be in this life together.”
Keep reading for a complete timeline of Bird and Rapinoe’s relationship.
Getty / Neilson Barnard / KCASports2019 / Neilson Barnard/KCASports2019
August 2016: Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe Meet
Bird and Rapinoe first met during a photo shoot at the Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro in August 2016, per Us Weekly. According to Bird, however, their first meeting was awkward on all counts. She revealed to NBC Sports (via Us Weekly) at the time, “We kinda crossed and she was like, ‘Oh, hey! Ready for your game?’ I was like, ‘ha-ha . . . funny.'” Rapinoe hasn’t forgotten the encounter, and Bird jokingly explained, “I walked away like, ‘I thought you were supposed to be cool?’ We joke about it now cause she was a total dork.”
Getty / Allison Farrand
July 2017: Sue Bird Comes Out as Gay
While Rapinoe has been out since 2012, it took some time for Bird to publicly open up about her sexuality. In 2017, she officially came out as gay in an interview with ESPNW. “I’m gay. Megan’s my girlfriend. . . . These aren’t secrets to people who know me. . . . I don’t feel like I’ve not lived my life. I think people have this assumption that if you’re not talking about it, you must be hiding it, like it’s this secret. That was never the case for me,” she explained (via Bleacher Report).
Bird continued to address critics who questioned why she made the decision to make the announcement later in life, saying, “Even though I understand there are people who think I should have done it sooner, it wasn’t right for me at the time. I have to be true to that. It’s my journey.”
Getty / Jamie McCarthy
October 2019: Megan Rapinoe Gushes About Sue Bird
Throughout their relationship, Bird and Rapinoe haven’t been shy about showing each other love and support in the public eye. In October 2019, Rapinoe gushed about her then-girlfriend to People, telling the outlet, “We are huge fans of each other. I have become, like, a Seattle Storm number one superfan, of course. . . . I think it is just the understanding of what we have to go through and the appreciation of, you know, each other’s skills and lives is really special. And in the same sense, we are just normal to each other. Which is really nice.”
Getty / Steph Chambers
December 2022: Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe Launch a Production Company
As if Bird and Rapinoe couldn’t be any cooler, the two started their own production company in December 2022. According to Variety, the company, A Touch More, is dedicated to highlighting stories of revolutionaries who move cultures forward.
The duo started the company to “bring a touch more understanding, connection, entertainment, and conversation to the evolving media landscape” by bringing awareness to causes and stories of forgotten groups, including the LGBTQIA+ community, people of color, and women. “A Touch More is a manifestation of our values, and our desire to bring to the surface stories of those who shape and move culture forward. We’re incredibly excited for some of the projects we have in the works and can’t wait to share more about this next chapter,” Bird and Rapinoe said in a statement.
