The Dating Lives of Olympic Athletes

By now, you’ve probably heard the stories surrounding sex in the Olympic Village — the horniness, the debauchery, the parties. It makes sense: Every four years, the best athletes from 206 countries get together to compete in the Olympic Games, all while staying in close quarters. But what about forming true, meaningful connections? With the grueling training schedules leading up to the Games and the intense pressure once they’re on location and ready to compete, not surprisingly, the idea of finding someone to connect with romantically for a long-term relationship isn’t usually at the forefront of these athlete’s minds.

“It’s hard to date, obviously,” Charley Hull, a 28-year-old English professional golfer who is competing in the Games this year, tells PS. “Sometimes you’re so tired. It’s hard at night to go out and get dressed and go out on a date with someone that you don’t know. I find that quite hard.”

Tyler Downs, a 21-year-old American competitive Olympic diver, agrees, adding that his schedule makes it difficult to meet new people. “I’m traveling so much, out of the country and all over the United States at competitions,” he says.

For Downs, training can take up six to seven hours of the day — split in three and a half intervals between strength sessions on land and in the pool. This is the case for most athletes, including Hull, who trains six days of the week with little time for romance. Jagger Eaton, a 23-year-old American professional skateboarder competing in Paris this year, says, “It’s hard to make time for anything else. I think after the Games there will be some time for me to have a social life again and be able to go out and have fun, but right now it’s such a grind.”

Some of the athletes, like Downs, are looking at the events in Paris as a way to connect with people. “It is Paris, the city of love, so everyone is out there looking for love,” Downs says. “I’m going in there just to see where everything goes and meet people, other athletes, get to know them, and see if anybody sparks my eye.” However, he says in terms of pursuing potential prospects more seriously, he plans to wait until he’s finished competing. “Just so nothing gets in the way and so that I can stay focused.”

Eaton on the other hand isn’t fantasizing about much other than winning gold but he’s not shutting himself off from anything. “If I meet people there, that’s great,” Eaton says. “If we have conversations, that’s great. I’m an open book. I love talking with other people, I love hanging out.”

The one thing all three athletes have in common? They’re looking for experiences that are “no pressure,” and they’ve been using an app called Rizz to help find low stakes connections. Touted as a “flirting app,” the premise behind it is that your friends can help you date. Conversations are public, and you can start one up with anyone who catches your eye by asking or answering questions.

“A lot of my friends are on it, and we have a good time,” Eaton says. “My friends know the type of pressure I’m under, they understand what’s going on.” When asked how he makes sure dating apps don’t become a distraction, he says he uses the app for 30 or 40 minutes after practice, and then he gets his head back where it needs to be. “As long as it doesn’t become a situation where you’re hanging out with people every night, as long as you’re focused through the games and you can have some fun after, it’s fine.”

According to representatives for the app, there are currently 4,000 daily active users located in Paris, a number that grew by 400 percent in comparison to the previous month. Additionally, Newsweek recently reported that a spokesperson for Tinder says there’s been close to a 25 percent increase in activity on the app in France, so all signs point to the athletes looking for . . . something.

“It’s kind of a chilled approach to a relationship,” Hull says. “I really enjoy how you can eavesdrop onto other people’s conversations; it makes it extra fun. It makes me more eager to meet others and it’s entertaining. I don’t have to worry about swiping on other people, I can just have fun with my friends.”

For Downs, whether he meets someone through an app or organically, he’s already got a plan in mind for how he’d approach the situation. He says his go-to move would most likely be to try their sport. “I think that would be pretty fun.”

When it comes to the type of people they’re looking to connect with, Downs and Eaton say they want someone who understands their lifestyle. “I would want them to have some insight on my athletic life because it’s very busy,” Downs says.

Eaton doesn’t have a type, per se, but instead he looks more for someone with a strong personality. “As I get older. . . as I look for a lady, I would look for somebody who has great character and somebody who understands the type of mind it takes to be successful in a sport. Because really, [athletes] kind of always feel like an outcast. It’s hard to communicate when the one vision you have is in athletics.”

As for whether or not these athletes will make meaningful connections while in Paris, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Renee Rodriguez is a staff writer and social producer for PS. She writes across all verticals, but her main areas of expertise focus on fashion and beauty content with an emphasis on reviews and editor experiments. She also produces social content for the PS TikTok and Instagram accounts.