Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird are going their separate ways.
The couple, who announced their engagement in October 2020, released a joint statement on Instagram on Friday, writing, “There is truly no smoother or easier way to share this news. After much consideration, we have made the decision to separate as a couple.”
“This was not an easy decision, but one we made together with much love, respect and compassion for each other,” the statement continued. “We have shared our lives together over the past 10 years, both big and quiet moments, and that is something we will always carry with us.”
“We are so grateful to this amazing community for supporting us, welcoming us, and supporting us for who we are,” the couple said.
“So many of you have reminded us, time and time again, why it’s important to love out loud,” they added.
Not only is their romantic partnership coming to an end, but the former pro athletes also revealed that this means the end of their podcast, A Touch More.
“Thank you for being with us through all of this…it means the world to us,” the joint statement concluded, “with much love, Megan and Sue.”
Bird, one of the greatest players in WNBA history who won five Olympic gold medals, came out publicly as a lesbian in a 2017 interview with ESPN, at the same time revealing that she was dating Rapinoe, whom she met at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro the year before.
Rapinoe, a National Women’s Soccer League alumnus, came out publicly several years ago in an interview with Out in 2012, the same year she won a gold medal for the United States at the London Olympics.
Bird announced her engagement to Rapinoe in October 2020 in a modest Instagram post. The captionless photo showed Rapinoe down on one knee, wearing a ring on the former’s finger.
The two, one of the biggest power couples in sports, had never exchanged vows.
Despite their split, Rapinoe and Bird will continue to work together under their production company, A Touch More.
Deadline announced Monday that it will executive produce “Playing the Field,” a series based on Meryl Wilsner’s romance novel “Create Cute,” for Amazon MGM Studios starting in 2023.
