Shayna Jack shares massive personal news as swimming world congratulates Aussie star
Jack and Aussie hockey player Joel Rintala have announced their engagement.
Dual Olympic gold medallist Shayna Jack and Aussie hockey player Joel Rintala have announced their engagement. In Paris, Jack won gold as part of the women's 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle teams and also finished fifth in the 100m freestyle and eighth in the 50m freestyle final.
Jack has been with Rintala - who has played six matches for Australia in hockey but didn't make the Kookaburras squad for the Olympics - since 2016, with the pair going through the highs and lows of professional sporting life together. Rintala was by Jack's side through her doping ban, which ruled the 25-year-old out of the Tokyo Games.
Jack was initially slapped with a four-year doping ban after testing positive for the banned substance Ligandrol. However, the suspension was cut in half on appeal after it was found she didn't knowingly take the drug.
The swimmer returned to the Australian team at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She then took out medals in the last two world championships before completing her swimming redemption story in Paris, winning two gold medals.
After completing her dream of Olympic glory, Rintala popped the question on the couple's post-Paris getaway. They shared the engagement news in a joint post to Instagram with a simple caption '10•08•2024'. The location of the proposal is unclear but Jack noted on Instagram that following the Games she was travelling to Greece to 'reflect on her journey'.
After sharing the news of their engagement on social media, the Australian swimming world was quick to congratulate the Aussie sporting power couple. On the post, Ariarne Titmus commented "woot woot", while Mollie O'Callaghan wrote: "so happy for you guys!!!". Bronte Campbell, Meg Harris and countless other Aussie sports stars also shared their congratulations.
Jack isn't the only Aussie star to reveal they are engaged post-Paris. Her announcement came just days after Bronte Campbell revealed her engagement to long-time partner Benfield Lainchbury, sharing a video and a series of photos from Venice. “Never know what to do with my hands in photos,” she wrote on a video while showing off her engagement ring.
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Shayna Jack admits she almost gave up on swimming dream
After qualifying for the Paris Games, Jack revealed she nearly gave swimming away altogether during her 24-month ban. “There were probably points where I thought I didn’t want to be an Olympian anymore when I nearly gave up on that dream and I’m really glad I didn’t,” Jack told reporters after qualifying for the Paris Olympics.
"My family, friends and partner are really proud of me no matter what happened tonight and moving forward. For the rest of this week, this is about me and what I wanted to achieve since I was a young girl. Tonight was a tick off that list, but trying to keep myself composed over the next couple of days."
