Why the WAGS and HABs of athletes are the ‘real heroes’ of the Olympics

The real heroes of the Olympics are not the athletes themselves but their partners standing next to them, writes James Weir.

The real heroes of the Olympics are not the athletes themselves but the WAGs and HABs on the sidelines who have spent the past two weeks working overtime to orchestrate stunts that go viral.

A gold medal? That’s nice. Still, it’s nothing compared to the dramatic kiss to celebrate the moment.

Like the pash Swedish-American pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis shared with his girlfriend, Instagram model Desire Inglander, after he broke the world record.

Suddenly, pole vaulting was sexy.

Gold medallist Armand Duplantis of Sweden celebrates by kissing his girlfriend Desire Inglander. Picture: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

We rely on the WAGs (wives and girlfriends) and HABs (husbands and boyfriends) to add another dimension to otherwise boring sports matches.

We want emotional narrative to speculate on! We want relationships to invest in! We want … hot people wearing really expensive outfits!

Morgan Riddle, the LA influencer girlfriend of US number one tennis player Taylor Fritz, was working around the clock to film social media content throughout the Games - all while dressed in inappropriate outfits that were seemingly uncomfortable in the summer temperatures that zipped up into the thirties.

James Weir Paris Olympics tennis fashion WAG Morgan Riddle.

And she wasn’t just supporting her partner’s tennis games. We found her outside a random volleyball match, posing up a storm under the Eiffel Tower in a $1300 ensemble by French label Jacquemus while her personal assistant snapped pictures.

“It’s USA colours,” she explained the white and red outfit.

“I bought this when I came here.”

Her red designer sunglasses matched her red painted fingernails and the red piping on her luxury interpretation of a sports tracksuit.

The internet personality, who has collected more than 530,000 followers on TikTok, was recently dubbed by the New York Times “the most famous woman in men’s tennis”.

She’d already been to the swimming that morning and was trying to decide on the outfit she’d wear later at the tennis.

Romain Mahieu of Team France and Saya Sakakibara of Team Australia kiss each other on the podium. Picture: Alex Broadway/Getty Images

Probably something by SKIMS, the shape wear brand by Kim Kardashian, she said.

Tight stretchy fabric in the sweltering heat? That’s true dedication.

The WAGs and HABs are themselves performing at an athletic level. And they too need to feel the glow of the spotlight sometimes.

Australian singer-turned-swimmer Cody Simpson was in town being a supportive boyfriend to his Olympic gold medallist girlfriend Emma McKeon but managed to sneak away and hit up an underground French bar at 2am where he belted out some Frank Sinatra covers on stage.

Why should the athletes get all the attention?

As one Olympic WAG told us while waiting on her partner to finish his commitments.

“If he gets a gold medal, I also deserve a gold medal - for my support, my patience, all the time spent by myself. It’s hard being a partner of an athlete.”