What can Canada’s Olympic couples teach us about relationships?

A handful of Canadian couples are gearing up to celebrate Valentine’s Day in Italy. They aren’t on holiday — it’s a work trip. They’re Olympians.

There are several sets of couples on Team Canada, some who play the same sport, and others whose love crosses Olympic events.

They include mixed doubles curling partners Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman, who met through curling eight years ago and married in 2022; and ice dancers Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac, who have been married for a decade.

Other examples are hockey players Marie-Philip Poulin and her wife Laura Stacey, who wed in 2024; and hockey player Blayre Turnbull and her husband Ryan Sommer, who won a bronze medal in bobsleigh in 2022 and is now a team manager.

The Canadian Press talked to some of those athletes to see how they make their relationships work, and whether there’s any lessons the non-Olympians among us can learn from them.

ON BALANCING THE ROMANTIC AND THE PROFESSIONAL

Lauriault and Le Gac say they focus on communication when they’re in competition. 

“Our relationship doesn’t change but we connect more when we feel stressed. It’s our way of bringing our love and respect for each other while competing,” they said in an email.

The couple, who finished 14th in free dance and 15th in rhythm dance, said their on-ice partnership has helped them communicate better off the ice.

“Both relationships serve each other and grow together,” they said.

“We make sure to always close our day together by bringing forward thoughts and feelings we experience during the day. That way we can clear our minds without letting the little frustrations get bigger. It comes back to the way we communicate and respect each other.” 

Gallant and Peterman, the curlers, take a slightly different approach, keeping their sport separate from their home life.

“I think Brett is very good at parking a win or a loss and being very present. I mean he works on that, but he’s always been excellent at that and I think that’s why we have such good balance,” Peterman said. 

“People are shocked when I say we don’t really talk curling much around the house or around the dinner table. We don’t and I think that’s why it’s sustainable. As much as we’re a curling couple, when it’s not time to have a pre-game or a post-game meeting, or when we’re not at a curling competition, we’re just enjoying each other’s company in every aspect of who we are outside of curling.”

ON SUPPORTING EACH OTHER THROUGH HIGHS AND LOWS

Gallant said being on the same team means they are each other’s rock. The pair missed out on a medal during the mixed doubles competition, but Gallant has switched gears to four-player men’s team play, with games set for the coming days.

“It helps in a way that you both know what each other are feeling. There’s no guessing at how much it hurts or how much stings,” he said. “But you know it’s a sad hug at the end of the day because you’re both going through that disappointment. But you always have each other. I see first-hand how much work Jocelyn puts in and how hard she fights. And I know she has nothing to really hang her head (about) even though it hurts in this moment.”

ON THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN BEING LIFE PARTNERS AND TEAMMATES

“Relationships and team dynamics are very similar. We’ve put a lot of work into that and just trying to understand each other and understand what each other needs and be that person for each other on the ice or if that’s off the ice too,” Peterman said. 

“We’ve put a lot work in on that and I think that benefits you as teammates and as a couple as well.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2026.

-With files from Gregory Strong in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.