Sawt Falasteen - Newlyweds, but rivals, as Olympic duo pursue skeleton dreams

The couple tied the knot in a civil ceremony this past August in Calgary, Canada, where they have bought a house and live when they are not competing around the world.

Silveira, a 31-year-old Brazilian, is a former bodybuilder who works as a nurse for a few months of the year. Meylemans, a 29-year-old who was born in Germany but represents Belgium, moved to Calgary to live with her partner.

The couple fell in love during the Covid-19 pandemic, when they both stayed at the same hotel and, with little else to do, started chatting.

"They are a female couple, and at the same time they compete against each other, which makes it all the more special," their performance coach, Fernando Oliva, told AFP.

"The main thing is that they show that, above all else, they are people, above being rivals in sport."

"They are two very outgoing, very friendly girls, which makes them popular and loved by people," added the Argentine.

- 'Team BB' -

He is part of "Team BB" (for Belgium and Brazil) which Meylemans and Silveira created in 2023.

It has become a brand on the skeleton circuit, with the silhouettes and flags of their countries as their crest embroidered on T-shirts, hoodies and hats.

The goal was to save money by sharing a three-member team of a coach, a trainer and a physiotherapist.

"In Brazil and Belgium, skeleton is not a very common sport, it doesn't bring in much money and they need it for travel, track rentals or coaches. So they decided to join forces," said Oliva, who has trained Meylemans for a decade.

Since his protege moved to Canada, much of his work is done online and remotely from Hasselt in Belgium, but the Team BB formula is working.

- 'It was difficult' -

Meylemans was European champion in 2024 and again in 2026, last month in St Moritz, while Silveira in 2024 became the first Brazilian to reach the podium in a World Cup event in her discipline.

At the Olympics, Meylemans was 14th in 2018 in Pyeongchang. In Beijing in 2022, she was isolated in the days leading up to the competition after a positive Covid test and finished 18th.

Silveira, who was making her Olympic debut, was 13th.

"It was difficult at the 2022 Games. We were already together, but still on different teams, so we didn't know what was secret and you couldn't tell your rival," said Silveira, her country's flag bearer in the Cortina d'Ampezzo part of Friday's opening ceremony, in a recent interview for Brazilian Olympic Committee.

The two hope to fight for the top positions.

"Neither is coming here to Italy to enjoy the experience. We're coming to finish as high as possible, to win medals, no matter what. But in terms of mental preparation, we don't talk about it much," said Oliva.

Meylemans also made clear they want to make a political point to the administration led by far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

"With the Games being in Italy and the current Italian government making decisions/laws that hurt the LGBTQ+ community, it feels extra special to potentially compete as married couple and shine a light on marriage equality while doing so," Meylemans wrote on Instagram after their wedding last year.

The women's skeleton event will open in Cortina on February 13 with the final on February 14, the first Valentine's Day since Meylemans and Silveira married.

Z.AlNajjar--SF-PST