Team Germany soccer player Lea Schüller and Team Austria sailor Lara Vadlau, who are both competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics, have split after more than three years of dating.
Vadlau, who won gold Thursday in the mixed dinghy event alongside partner Lukas Maehr, shared the news in a recent interview, explaining the exes are still on good terms.
“Lea is no longer my partner,’ Vadlau told O3. “Of course, I am very proud of her and we are still very good friends and I am keeping my fingers crossed for her.”
Schüller, a forward for Bayern Munich and Germany’s national team, won bronze when Team Germany beat Spain 1-0 in Friday’s consolation match.
It’s unclear exactly when or why they called it quits.
Schüller and Vadlau had hoped to spend time together in Paris, but things took a wrong turn, according to the Daily Mail.
“It’s great that we both made it to Paris,” she said ahead of the Olympics, per the outlet. “Maybe we’ll run into each other a few times.
“We rarely see each other, only about 100 days a year, because Lara is away a lot and trains hard to prepare for the Games.”
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Vadlau, 30, and Schüller, 26, had been partners since at least 2021, according to Vadlau’s Instagram, which included a photo of the pair topless together while in Croatia.
They previously lived together in Munich, Schüller said in a joint interview with FC Bayern in December 2022.
2024 PARIS OLYMPICS
At the time, the then-couple explained what it’s like dating an elite-level athlete.
“I find it really helpful because both of us understand what you have to do for your sport, that you’re away a lot and don’t see each other that often. Otherwise it would be really hard,” Vadlau, a multiple world and European champion sailor, told the outlet.
Schüller explained they didn’t see each other a lot due to their training schedules.
“On the other hand, if I wasn’t a sportswoman we could see each other a lot more often. Lara’s just been away for two weeks, then I’m with the national team for 10 days, then she’s back on her travels… We often only see each other for three to five days at a time,” Schüller said.
“It’s a bit like a long-distance relationship. Not because we live in different places – we live together in Munich – it’s just one of us is always away.”
