Aussie Olympian Stephanie Rice engaged to boyfriend of seven months: 'Fresh start'

Former Australian Olympian Stephanie Rice has announced her engagement to Mark Massey, her boyfriend of only seven months. The 36-year-old SAS Australia star shared the news on Instagram, revealing that Mark proposed at Atlantis The Royal in Dubai.

"Here’s to fresh starts and second chances," she wrote. "Yes to a lifetime with you 💍."

Stephanie was part of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games coverage with Stan Sport and had recently returned home to Dubai when Mark proposed.

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The long-distance couple kept their relationship under wraps for five months, only going public in July.

Mark is a pastor and father of three, and the pair met through a mutual friend.

Stephanie's followers were quick to share their well wishes with the couple, with Jess Rowe writing, "OMG! OMG!! I’m crying happy tears for youuuuuu! This is the most wonderful, joyful news. Sending you & Mark all of our love honeypie! Hooray! Wooooohooooooo."

"Oh my gosh!!!! Congratulations guys! This is huge! So so happy," one user wrote.

"Wait! I wasn’t ready for this, and now I’m crying in public," another person said. "My gosh, my heart is so happy for you darling. Congratulations."

"That has made my day! Congratulations to you both," a third said.

Stephanie 'waited almost 36 years for this type of love'

Last week, Stephanie shared a sweet video of herself and Mark looking very much in love, with the caption reading, "I adore you @mark.lassey 🤎 I waited almost 36 years for this type of love, but now that we’re together, I know exactly why God had me wait … it was always for you!!"

She's previously described herself and Mark as "two lost jigsaw pieces finally coming together", adding, "Now everything makes sense."

'We both knew this was different'

Stephanie's first post about Mark was a lengthy one, where she thanked God for bringing them together.

"When we met almost 5 months ago, we both knew this was different!" she began. "From the start, there was a deep intentionally [sic] between us, and because of the complexities of our lives we wanted to keep these first few months between close family and friends, and enjoy the wonder of falling in love.

"We come from such different backgrounds, so when a mutual friend saw the potential and connected us, we were both pretty unsure the other would be interested… not to mention the fact we live on opposite sides of the globe. But as God would have it, that first phone conversation made us feel like this was exactly where we were both meant to end up."

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She continued, "Since then, we’ve been so blessed that our work has taken us around the world, allowing us to spend a few days together either side of our commitments, hanging out in different cities, meeting each other’s friends and family, and discovering what a life together will look like.

"Living halfway across the world from each other in different time zones has had it’s challenges (thank god for zoom) but God has been so good and so present in every step of our journey, which gives us an unwavering faith that our future will be even more extraordinary through Him.

"If there is one word that sums up how both of us feel right now, it’s grateful."

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