True love is in the air in Rio

WE’VE already seen marriage proposals in Rio, but two Aussie athletes are vying for the crown of cutest Olympic couple.

The picture perfect couple.

LOVE is in the air in Rio.

We’ve already seen several proposals at the Olympics, and our Aussie competitors have been getting into the romantic side of things too.

No, we’re not talking about Tinder, but genuine, old-school romance.

Long distance runners Genevieve LaCaze and Ryan Gregson are dating and competing at the Games. While they’re not sharing a room in the Athletes’ Village, the time apart hasn’t done anything to dim their affection for one another.

LaCaze’s Olympics is nearly over. She finished ninth in the 3000m steeplechase and has only the 5000m final left to run. After her heat for the event on Wednesday, the 27-year-old revealed she had some special motivation for running fast enough to get into the final.

LaCaze told Channel 7 she’d promised Gregson she’d get through to the final because she didn’t want her Olympics to be over before his started.

Had she bombed out, her campaign would have been over before Gregson took to the start line for the first time in Rio.

That’s true love for you.

Later in the day after Gregson had run his first race of the Games — a second placed finish in his heat of the men’s 1500m — he gushed over his better half in a separate interview with Channel 7.

“She’s a star. It’s so good we get to do this together,” he said.

“It’s a lonely sport but to be able to do this with your best mate is fantastic and I think we both rub off on each other as well.”

Gregson is off to a good start.

Doing it for Ryan.

Gregson was checked with 200 metres to run but had the speed to run five wide down the home straight, crossing the line in three minutes, 39.13 seconds behind 2008 Olympic gold medallist and three-time world champion Asbel Kiprop from Kenya.

“That was a big step forwards and it felt great,” he said.

“I just thought I’d be patient. That’s my best way to run.”

The two have been in a relationship for around three years and LaCaze said training and travelling together was mostly beneficial for the two.

“It (the relationship) is huge because we have such a crazy lifestyle when it comes to jumping around so much,” LaCaze was quoted as saying by the Herald Sun in early August before the Games.

“I don’t think many people could do what we do unless you’re in the same training group and having Ryan around has been a huge benefit for me.

“Not only in having company and having a friend through all this but also I have learned from his mistakes.”

When predicting how Rio would unfold, Gregson said both knew that despite being together, their priority was on performance.

“It’s hard because I want myself to do really well but I also want her to achieve what she wants to achieve,” he said.

“If any of it became a distraction we wouldn’t want our relationship to get in the way or anything like that.

“At the end of the day even though we’re in a relationship, it’s an individual sport and we’re both in this to get the most out of ourselves.”