Long-distance relationships can be difficult, especially when they go on for years and years. And the one between Olympic luge athletes Emily Sweeney of the U.S. and Dominik Fischnaller of Italy was no different.
It was challenging. It pushed them to the limit at times. They wondered if it was going to work.
And in the ultimate moments, they would ask each other the same question:
“Are we worth it?”
“It was always a ‘Yes,’” Emily Fischnaller said.
Her last name changed last year, so yes, their luge love story got a happy ending. The couple, after dating for about 15 years — basically half their lives — finally got married. And in about a week, at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, not far from their now-permanent home, the Fischnallers will slide for different countries at an Olympics where both are expected to be serious medal hopefuls.
It'll be the fourth Olympics for Dominik, the reigning men's singles bronze medalist, and the third for Emily.
“It's like a huge family fest, or party I would say, which just makes it great," Dominik Fischnaller said. "And I think we will have more time, I think, than other Olympics where we be more together. I want to enjoy this more than I did in other Olympics. Then, I was just focused on sliding, sliding, sliding. I didn’t really experience the atmosphere or anything. I hope this will be different for me this time and Emily is for sure a big part of that.”
There are more than a few couples who'll be together for these Olympics, some of them teammates, some of them competing against each other.
— U.S. alpine skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin — that sport's all-time wins leader — is engaged to Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who returned to racing this season after dealing with major injuries for almost two years.
— Latvia's luge team includes the husband and wife pair of Martins Bots and Elina Bota, both singles sliders.
— American figure skaters Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the favorites to win ice dancing gold, married in 2024.
— U.S. women's hockey star Hilary Knight and U.S. women's speedskating great Brittany Bowe — with six Olympic medals between them — started dating in 2022.
— In women's skeleton, Kim Meylemans of Belgium and Nicole Rocha Silveira of Brazil have the dynamic of being opponents who are married to each other. When Meylemans clinched this season's World Cup title, Silveira — a three-time World Cup bronze medalist, two of those coming with her now-wife in either the gold or silver medal spot — was the first to run to her side for a congratulatory embrace. “Don’t think anyone truly understands how much I needed her with me (pushing & supporting me) to achieve this,” Meylemans wrote on Instagram.
USA Bobsled has a power couple as well, with reigning women's monobob world champion Kaysha Love getting engaged last year to Olympic men's push athlete Hunter Powell. She's in the Olympics for the second time; he is making his Olympic debut.
“We have love for one another, but at the end of the day, he’s my teammate when we’re out there training or practicing," Love said. “For me, it’s a secret weapon, to have a teammate that you know only has trust and belief in you. When I know that I am supported, I just feel like I’m able to do unthinkable things.”
Dominik and Emily Fischnaller say they relate to that.
They began dating when they were teenagers. They would see each other all season, of course, since the luge World Cup tour is basically one big traveling road show hopping between tracks in Europe, North America and Asia. They would find time in the summers to connect as well.
Eventually, they decided to get married. It's not always that simple in Italy; rules and regulations make the process of scheduling a wedding somewhat complex. When the couple got the approval last spring, they pulled it off in nine days — rings were bought quickly, a dress was found fast and off to a courthouse they went with just a few relatives in tow.
“The actual day, it was pretty perfect," Emily Fischnaller said. "Even at the end of the day, Dominik said he had his perfect wedding, which I never thought was possible for him to say.”
They've built a home in Italy by basically rebuilding his childhood home. There's talk of starting a family; the Fischnallers are closer to the end of their competitive careers than they are the beginning, but sliders often say they're going to retire and then find a reason to stick around or come back. In short, what happens after these Olympics isn't totally clear.
“It just feels like we’re setting up a future instead of just living in the present," Emily Fischnaller said. "It's exciting.”
He is an Olympic medalist. She's the bronze medalist from last year's world championships. On any given day, both have proven they can be the best in the world. And they've overcome plenty along the way; Emily Fischnaller broke her neck and back in a run at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and still deals with aftereffects of that crash at times.
“I tell her she can’t get hurt because I feel the pain even 10,000 times more than she feels her own pain,” Dominik Fischnaller said. “I’m extremely nervous when she’s sliding. I almost can’t watch the race.”
But he'll watch her at the Olympics. She'll watch him, too. And if all goes right, they'll watch each other make their way to the medal stand.
Either way, when it's over, they might just ask each other their go-to question one more time.
“Are we worth it?”
The answer, once again, surely will be yes.
“We're here. We're happy," Dominik Fischnaller said. “And we're having a good life.”
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
FILE - Dominik Fischnaller of Italy wins the men's luge overall World Cup, in Winterberg, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023. (Christopher Neundorf/dpa via AP, File)
FILE - Emily Sweeney of the United States waves after the women's sprint race at the Luge World Cup in Igls near Innsbruck, Austria, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz is 22, he's the youngest man ever to win all four of the major titles in tennis, and he had to achieve what no man previously has done to complete the career Grand Slam in Australia.
The top-ranked Alcaraz dropped the first set of the Australian Open final in 33 minutes Sunday as Novak Djokovic went out hard in pursuit of an unprecedented 25th major title, but the young Spaniard dug deep to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.
“Means the world to me,” Alcaraz said. “It is a dream come true for me.”
Djokovic had won all 10 of his previous finals at Melbourne Park and, despite being 38, gave himself every chance of extending that streak to 11 when he needed only two sets to win.
Alcaraz rose to the challenge.
“Tennis can change on just one point. One point, one feeling, one shot can change the whole match completely,” he said. “I played well the first set, but you know, in front of me I had a great and inspired Novak, who was playing great, great shots.”
A couple of unforced errors from Djokovic early in the second set gave Alcaraz the confidence.
He scrambled to retrieve shots that usually would be winners for Djokovic, and he kept up intense pressure on the most decorated player in men's tennis history. There were extended rallies where each player hit enough brilliant shots to usually win a game.
Djokovic has made an artform of rallying from precarious positions. Despite trailing two sets to one, he went within the width of a ball in the fourth set's ninth game of turning this final around.
After fending off six break points in the set, he exhorted the crowd when he got to 30-30. The crowd responded with chants of “Nole, Nole, Nole!”
When Djokovic earned a breakpoint chance — his first since the second set — he whipped up his supporters again. But when Djokovic sent a forehand long on the next point, Alcaraz took it as a reprieve.
A short forehand winner, a mis-hit from Alcaraz, clipped the net and landed inside the line to give him game point. Then Djokovic hit another forehand long.
Alcaraz responded with a roar, and sealed victory by taking two of the next three games.
As he was leaving the court, Alcaraz signed the lens of the TV camera with a recognition: "Job finished. 4/4 Complete.”
After paying tribute at the trophy ceremony to Djokovic for being an inspiration, Alcaraz turned to his support team. He parted ways with longtime coach Juan Carlos Ferrero at the end of last season and Samuel Lopez stepped up to head the team.
“Nobody knows how hard I’ve been working to get this trophy. I just chased this moment so much,” Alcaraz said. "The pre-season was a bit of a rollercoaster emotionally.
“You were pushing me every day to do all the right things,” he added. “I’m just really grateful for everyone I have in my corner right now.”
Djokovic joked about this showdown setting up a rivalry over the next 10 years with Alcaraz, but then said it was only right to hand the floor over to the new, 16 years his junior, champion.
“What you’ve been doing, the best word to describe is historic, legendary," he said. "So congratulations."
Both players were coming off grueling five-set semifinal wins — Alcaraz held off No. 3 Alexander Zverev on Friday; Djokovic’s win over two-time defending Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner ended after 1:30 a.m. Saturday — yet showed phenomenal fitness, athleticism and stamina for just over three hours in pursuit of their own historic achievements.
Djokovic won the last of his 24 Grand Slam singles titles at the 2023 U.S. Open, his push for an unprecedented 25th has now been blocked by Alcaraz or Sinner for nine majors.
Djokovic and Rafael Nadal played some epic matches, including the longest match ever at the Australian Open that lasted almost six hours in 2012.
Nadal was in the stands Sunday, and both players addressed the 22-time major winner.
“He's my idol, my role model,” Alcaraz said. To complete the career Slam "in front of him, it made even more special."
Djokovic, addressing Nadal directly as the “legendary Rafa,” joked that there were “too many Spanish legends” in Rod Laver.
“It felt like it was two against one tonight,” he said.
At 22 years and 272 days, Alcaraz is the youngest man to complete a set of all four major singles titles. He broke the mark set by Don Budge in the 1938 French championships, when he was 22 years and 363 days.
He’s the ninth man to achieve the career Grand Slam, a list that also includes Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer.
Alcaraz now has seven major titles — his first in Australia along with two each at Wimbledon and the French and U.S. Opens.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates after defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia braces himself after playing a shot to Carlos Alcaraz of Spain during the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia hits a forehand to Carlos Alcaraz of Spain during the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates after defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain reacts after defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026.(AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain reacts during the men's singles final match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026.(AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates after defeating Alexander Zverev of Germany in their semifinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Novak Djokovic, right, of Serbia is congratulated by Jannik Sinner, left, of Italy following their semifinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, early Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
