Olympic footballers make relationship Instagram official with adorable photo
Team USA’s Kristie Mewis embraces Sam Kerr of Australia after the Olympic football bronze medal match between US and Australia on 5 August 2021. (Getty/Zhizhao Wu)
Olympians Kristie Mewis and Sam Kerr have revealed that they are officially dating with the most adorable photo on Instagram.
Even before the Tokyo 2020 games, rumours swirled online about the two elite athletes being an item. This ramped up after Mewis was seen comforting Kerr after Team USA defeated Team Australia for the bronze medal on 5 August. The two women were seen closely embracing on the pitch after the match.
Kerr made their relationship public with a simple post on Instagram. The Australian footballer shared a picture of her and Mewis cuddled up and kissing, alongside a heart emoji.
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German footballer Melanie Leupolz, who plays for Chelsea FCW, commented with several heart eye emojis. Manchester United’s Hannah Blundell commented the same with the addition of a flame emoji.
Erin Robertson, who won season 15 of the fashion competition Project Runway, joked that the couple’s photo “needs to be a trading card”.
Kerr has been out for a while now. In 2019, she shared in a Nike documentary that her now ex-girlfriend was instrumental in helping her recover from a “serious injury” several years earlier and handle the “mental side” of getting better again.
It was not known before the Olympics if Mewis, who plays as a midfielder for the Houston Dash, was part of the LGBT+ community. OutSports, which had been compiling a list of openly queer athletes, did not include the Team USA player on their list.
Team USA’s Kristie Mewis embraces Sam Kerr of Australia after the Olympic football bronze medal match between US and Australia on 5 August 2021. (Getty/Zhizhao Wu)
According to the Daily Mail, Kerr has not been the only one gushing about their budding romance. The news outlet reported Mewis posted an adorable photo of the couple enjoying a post-Olympics holiday on her Instagram stories.
In the picture, Mewis gazes in the mirror while Kerr stands behind her, closely embracing her partner. If you look closely, Mewis is even holding onto Kerr’s hand – it’s kind of too adorable for words.
The pair follow in the steps of several LGBT+ power couples in sport. Team USA captain and queer icon Megan Rapinoe was seen sharing a sweet kiss with fiancée Sue Bird, celebrating the basketball player’s record-breaking fifth gold medal. Bird and her teammate Diana Taurasi both won their fifth gold medals when the US team beat Japan 90-75.
Earlier this year, US women’s national team players Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger announced the adoption of their new baby in the most heartwarming Instagram post.
