First Olympic Same Sex Couple Make History

“To win a gold medal is a dream come true–to win it standing next to my wife is really special.”

Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh became the first same-sex married couple to compete in the Olympics and the first to win a gold medal.

Kate and Helen both belong to Great Britain’s women’s field hockey team, which beat the Netherlands Friday to win gold in Rio. The win made Kate and Helen the first British married couple since 1900 to win medals on the same team. Cyril and Dorothy Wright won gold in sailing way back in 1920, but they competed on separate teams.

A photo posted by Helen Richardson (@helenrichardson8) on Dec 24, 2015 at 3:13pm PST

Kate and Helen have been competing together at the Olympics since 2000 but their romance reportedly started after the Beijing Olympics in 2008. They got married when the UK legalized same-sex marriage in 2013.

“The best thing is the reaction we’ve had from the public in that we’ve helped people feel more confident in themselves. People feel it’s OK to come out as bisexual or gay or lesbian – that’s been the best thing for me,” Kate told BBC.

That public acceptance was shouted from the rooftops when 36-year-old Kate was the choice to be flagbearer during the closing ceremonies after the amazing shoot-out victory over Holland on Friday.