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No One Saw This Coming: Spanish Figure Skater Says Yes to a Marriage Proposal From Her Former Rival — Right on the Streets of Milan During the Winter Olympics

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From heated rivals to life-long partners!

Figure skater Olivia Smart is leaving the 2026 Winter Olympics a fiancée after her former rival, Jean-Luc Baker, whom she competed against in the 2022 Beijing Olympics, popped the question on the streets of Milan on Saturday, Feb. 14.

Smart, 28, and her partner Tim Dieck didn’t medal in ice dance on Feb. 11, coming in ninth, but the British-Spanish figure skater has a lot to be happy about after Baker, 32, proposed on Valentine’s Day, which also marks the anniversary of day he confessed his love for her while they were competing in Beijing.

Olivia Smart and Jean-Luc Baker’s engagement on Feb. 14, 2026 in Milan.Joosep Martinson/Getty

“It’s always been you,” the couple captioned their post announcing the happy news.

American figure skating stars congratulated the couple in the comments, with Evan Bates writing, “Congrats!! I love you guys,” and Ellie Kam adding, “😭😭 that was so precious. Congratulations 🎉🥹.”

Olivia Smart and Jean-Luc Baker on Feb. 14, 2026 in Milan, Italy.Joosep Martinson/Getty

Olympic rugby star Ilona Maher commented too, asking, “I’m sorry?!?!? Did this happen before or after I saw you?!?” to which Smart told Maher the proposal happened “literally a couple hours after.”

When Smart and Baker competed against each other in the 2022 Beijing Games, the Spanish athlete finished eighth, while Baker, who won bronze in the team event at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, finished in eleventh place.

Baker and Smart were friends for years and she was in a relationship with someone else before he confessed his feelings for her. “We’ve been best friends at this point for like 11 or 12 years,” Baker said in a video shared by the Olympics.

“I remember, like, this feeling in my gut of not being comfortable enough to be at her wedding as a spectator…and I honestly could not live my life not knowing that she knew how I felt about her,” he said.

After they both competed in the free dance in Beijing, Baker realized it was his “time to say something.”

Baker has not officially announced his retirement from the sport, but a series of injuries have prevented him from competing since the 2022 Games.

To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Milan Cortina Olympics and Paralympics, beginning Feb. 6, on NBC and Peacock.

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