VIDEO SHOWS: U.S. OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC COUPLES DISCUSS VALENTINE'S DAY AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS. SHOWS: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE – OCTOBER 28, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** 1. U.S. FIGURE SKATERS AND MARRIED COUPLE MADISON CHOCK AND EVAN BATES POSE FOR PHOTOS 2. (SOUNDBITE)(English) MADISON CHOCK, U.S. FIGURE SKATER, SAYING: "That is a good question. I love an Olympic Valentine's Day. We don't really have any plans at the moment, so we are open to suggestions. But I think Italy is a very romantic place, so I'm sure we'll find some lovely Valentine's Day opportunities." 3. CHOCK AND BATES POSING FOR PHOTOS 4. (SOUNDBITE)(English) EVAN BATES, U.S. FIGURE SKATER, SAYING: "I think, you know, we've always just tried to be ourselves and, you know, be authentic and grounded and rooted in what we love, which is skating, you know. And I hope people will connect with that authenticity, because more than anything, that's really who we are and what we're about, is just loving what we do and loving the person that we get to do it with." ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 13, 2026) (IMAGN IMAGES – Must Courtesy: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images) 5. STILL IMAGE OF CHOCK AND BATES POSING (MUTE) NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE – OCTOBER 29, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** 6. U.S. WOMEN'S ICE HOCKEY PLAYER HILARY KNIGHT POSING FOR PHOTOS BUFFALO, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE – NOVEMBER 8, 2025) (USA HOCKEY – No archive, no resales) 7. KNIGHT SCORING THE FIRST GOAL IN GAME 2 OF THE 2025-2026 RIVALRY SERIES FOR THE U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL ICE HOCKEY TEAM AGAINST CANADA 8. KNIGHT BEHIND THE BOARDS AT BENCH WITH TEAM NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE – OCTOBER 29, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** 9. U.S. ICE HOCKEY PLAYER HILARY KNIGHT, PARTNER OF U.S. SPEED SKATER BRITTANY BOWE, POSING FOR PHOTOS 10. (SOUNDBITE)(English) HILARY KNIGHT, U.S. ICE HOCKEY PLAYER, SAYING: "I mean, sometimes being in different sports provides like a level of perspective and clarity and so while you're trying to problem-solve something you might be just too close to it but you also trust input because, you know, she's [partner U.S. speed skater Brittany Bowe] at the same level, she's that Olympic-caliber athlete. She knows that high performance mindset. She knows what it takes to get into those rooms, sort of, how it all works, how you move in those spaces. And, yeah, Britt's, Britt's always got a piece of knowledge to pass along, which is really helpful for me. She just knows when to be there and she's always there when you need her, which is awesome." 11. U.S. SPEED SKATER BRITTANY BOWE, PARTNER OF KNIGHT, POSING FOR PHOTOS 12. (SOUNDBITE)(English) BRITTANY BOWE, U.S. SPEED SKATER, SAYING: "It's been a fun journey getting to know each other in Beijing and being able to share in one another's journey, the ups, the downs, the good, the bad has been really special. Being with someone that we understand what each other are going through. It's added a really fun element into the last four years of my life being able to take off my competitive hat. And just being able to be a fan and cheer on Hilary and the rest of the U.S. women's hockey team. So, it's added a lot of joy into my life." 13. BOWE POSING FOR PHOTOS 14. MULTI-SPORT U.S. PARALYMPIAN OKSANA MASTERS, FIANCÉE OF MULTI-SPORT U.S. PARALYMPIAN AARON PIKE, POSING FOR PHOTOS 15. (SOUNDBITE)(English) OKSANA MASTERS, MULTI-SPORT PARALYMPIAN, SAYING: Reporter: "Do you guys have plans around Valentine's Day?" "No, oftentimes there's actually, we're racing on Valentine's Day. So, what's more beautiful than just snot rockets across the course and just racing? But I think we still, he's so sweet. He sets the bar so high for me in the relationship where he's thinking about doing cards and letters and things like that. And I'm like, 'This is so sweet, but you just set the bar real high. Like, what am I supposed to do with this? How do I beat this?' So, I guess I am competitive in everything I think and do." 16. STILL IMAGE OF MULTI-SPORT U.S. PARALYMPIAN AARON PIKE, FIANCÉ OF MULTI-SPORT U.S. PARALYMPIAN OKSANA MASTERS, POSING FOR A PHOTO (MUTE) 17. (SOUNDBITE)(English) AARON PIKE, MULTI-SPORT U.S. PARALYMPIAN, SAYING: "We get to go home and you have someone that's doing the exact same thing that you're doing, so they, you know, most people that go home and they have to just kind of describe the problems like at work and stuff or whatever it is that they're doing, and you can kind of get a sense of like what that might feel like, but you don't know. Where Oksana and I with the sport and all the things that come up and like with her different injuries and setbacks. And sports are so black and white. There's no fudge room. You either win at the podium or you don't. And that can be tough. And just having each other where there's that person that you can say anything to and they can lean on you and they say anything back to you. And it's definitely made it a lot easier to do the sport for such a long time but just also compete at such a high level and just be the best that we can be at major competitions having that person right there." NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE – OCTOBER 29, 2025) (IMAGN IMAGES – Must Courtesy: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images) 18. STILL IMAGE OF PIKE SPEAKING TO MEDIA AT THE JAVITS CENTER (MUTE) STORY: With Valentine's Day falling in the middle of this month's Winter Olympics in Italy, dinner reservations and roses will have to share space with early alarms, sore muscles and the emotional strain of competing on sport's biggest stage. U.S. ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates, a married couple appearing in their fourth Games together, have not locked in plans yet but expect Italy to do some of the work for them. "I love an Olympic Valentine's Day," Chock told Reuters. "We don't really have any plans at the moment, so we are open to suggestions. But I think Italy is a very romantic place, so I'm sure we'll find some lovely Valentine's Day opportunities." Bates said the couple's approach, on and off the ice, is to stay grounded in the routines and the relationship that brought them there. "We've always just tried to be ourselves and stay rooted in what we love, which is skating," he said. "And I hope people will connect with that authenticity, because that's really who we are and what we're about – loving what we do and loving the person that we get to do it with." For athletes in other sports, Valentine's Day at the Olympics can be less about a night out than having someone who understands the high-performance mindset and pressure that comes with it. U.S. women's ice hockey player Hilary Knight said having her partner, speed skater Brittany Bowe, in her corner has provided perspective when the intensity ramps up and the margin for error narrows. "Sometimes being in different sports provides a level of perspective and clarity," Knight said, describing how Bowe's input can help when she is too close to a problem. "She knows that high-performance mindset. She knows what it takes to get into those rooms." Bowe said the last four years have been enriched by sharing the ups and downs of elite sport with someone living a similar reality, and by finding moments to drop the competitive edge. "It's added a really fun element into the last four years of my life being able to take off my competitive hat," Bowe said, adding that being a fan and cheering on Knight and the U.S. team has brought "a lot of joy" to her life. In the Paralympic ranks, multi-sport athletes Oksana Masters and Aaron Pike said the holiday can look decidedly unglamorous when it lands on a race day, though Masters joked that competition has its own kind of romance. "Oftentimes we're racing on Valentine's Day," Masters said. "So,…
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