{"id":591887,"date":"2026-04-18T14:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T14:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/591887\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T14:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T14:36:11","slug":"a-timeline-of-their-shocking-breakup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/591887\/","title":{"rendered":"A Timeline of Their Shocking Breakup"},"content":{"rendered":"

All products featured on Glamour are independently selected by Glamour editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Cond\u00e9 Nast may earn an affiliate commission.<\/p>\n

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Ethan Miller\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Women’s sports fans everywhere are mourning the relationship of WNBA<\/a> legend Sue Bird and soccer star<\/a> Megan Rapinoe.<\/p>\n

The power couple announced the shocking news in a joint Instagram statement on April 17, revealing their decision to separate after a decade-long romance. \u201cThere really is no smooth or easy way to share this news,\u201d Rapinoe<\/a> and Bird<\/a> wrote. \u201cAfter a lot of thought, we’ve made the decision to separate as a couple.\u201d<\/p>\n

The retired athletes\u2014who met before the 2016 Olympics<\/a> in Rio de Janeiro and got engaged<\/a> in October 2020\u2014did not share the reason for their split but described it as a mutual decision made with \u201cso much love, respect, and care for each other.\u201d The statement continued, \u201cWe’ve shared a whole life over the last decade, through big moments and in quiet ones, and that is something we’ll always carry with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rapinoe and Bird will likely have more to say in the coming weeks, especially as the exes release the final episodes of their podcast, A Touch More. Here’s a timeline of Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird’s breakup, as well as a brief look back at some of their most memorable moments as a couple.<\/p>\n

April 17, 2026: Bird and Rapino announce their split, as well as the end of A Touch More podcast. \u201cWe are so grateful to this incredible community that has held us up, welcomed us in, and supported us exactly as we are,\u201d they wrote to fans in their breakup statement. \u201cSo many of you have reminded us, again and again, why loving out loud matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement continued, \u201cGetting to create A Touch More: The Podcast and build a network around it has been a tremendous joy. The conversations, the laughter, the connection\u2014it means more than we can put into words. While this chapter of doing the podcast together is ending, what we’ve built with you isn’t.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair also spoke about the end of their podcast in a brief, three-minute YouTube video titled, \u201cA Personal Update<\/a>.\u201d According to the pair, they will be switching off hosting the final six special episodes, which typically drop on Wednesdays.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re going to do a little trade off hosting six more special episodes of A Touch More that’ll be our farewell to you all and to this space,\u201d Bird says, noting she’ll still be hosting a second season of the Bird’s Eye View<\/a> podcast. Meanwhile, Rapinoe, says she’ll be \u201cfollowing in Sue’s footsteps\u201d by launching her own show this summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope you all know, we put a lot of thought and care into this,\u201d Rapinoe says. \u201cIt’s a decision that we made together. We’re still going to be there for all of you and for each other. It’s just going to look and feel a little bit different. We truly are evolving into something new to each other, to ourselves and to all of you. And we just wanted to say thank you for sharing this space with us and giving us this space for us to find ourselves in a different way through this podcast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bird adds, \u201cThank you for holding us all these years, for cheering for us, believing in us, following us from playing to retiring and now beyond. We are so so, so grateful, and we hope you’ll continue with us on this next journey as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

April 16, 2026: The pair discuss the WNBA draft as normal during the latest full episode of the A Touch More<\/a> podcast.<\/p>\n

December 7, 2025: The pair make one of their final joint appearances at UConn for Bird’s jersey retirement ceremony.<\/p>\n

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Sue Bird poses with Connecticut Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma, family, and partner Megan Rapinoe during a jersey retirement ceremony in Storrs, Connecticut.<\/p>\n

Joe Buglewicz\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

July 8, 2023: Bird supports Rapinoe as she announces her retirement. “It is with a deep sense of peace and gratitude that I have decided this will be my final season playing this beautiful game,” Rapinoe captions the Instagram announcement, per Us Weekly<\/a>. “I never could have imagined the ways in which soccer would shape and change my life forever, but by the look on this little girl\u2019s face, I think she knew all along \u2728.”<\/p>\n

Bird replies, “Congrats, baby!! That little girl is going to continue to do so much good in this world (but she sure did kill it on the field \ud83e\udd29). I love you \u2764\ufe0f.”<\/p>\n

August 8, 2021: Rapinoe kisses Bird after her Olympic gold-medal victory in the women’s basketball finals in Tokyo.<\/p>\n

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Megan Rapinoe kisses her fiancee Sue Bird on day sixteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Saitama Super Arena on August 8, 2021.<\/p>\n

Jean Catuffe\/Getty Images\"Megan<\/p>\n

Megan Rapinoe kisses her fiancee Sue Bird on day sixteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Saitama Super Arena on August 8, 2021.<\/p>\n

Tim Clayton\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

October 30, 2020: Bird announces their engagement on Instagram<\/a> with a photo of Rapinoe on one knee while Bird accepts her ring from a beach-side pool. According to People<\/a>, the proposal occurred during Bird’s 40th birthday trip earlier in the month.<\/p>\n

October 17, 2019: Rapinoe says she \u201cloves being a WAG\u201d during an interview with People<\/a>. \u201cWe are huge fans of each other. I have become, like, a Seattle Storm number one superfan, of course,\u201d Rapinoe says of her relationship with Bird. \u201cI think it is just the understanding of what we have to go through and the appreciation of, you know, each other\u2019s skills and lives is really special. And in the same sense, we are just normal to each other. Which is really nice. Like, neither of us are like, \u2018Oh wow you are the best person that has ever played basketball.\u2019 Which she is!\u201d<\/p>\n

All products featured on Glamour are independently selected by Glamour editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Cond\u00e9 Nast may earn an affiliate commission.<\/p>\n

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Women of the Year<\/p>\n

She Scored. She Won. She\u2019s Going to Get Us All Paid Better<\/a><\/p>\n

The World Cup star and equal-pay hero Megan Rapinoe doesn\u2019t care what the world thinks of her. She\u2019s the unapologetic pink-haired icon we\u2019ve needed in 2019.<\/p>\n

July 7, 2019: Rapinoe receives a kiss<\/a> from Bird after winning the World Cup with the USWNST<\/a>.<\/p>\n

June 26, 2018: The pair become the first gay couple to appear on the cover of ESPN’s Body Issue<\/a>.<\/p>\n

July 20, 2017: Bird comes out as gay and reveals she’s dating Rapinoe during an interview with ESPNW. “I’m gay. Megan’s my girlfriend. … These aren’t secrets to people who know me,” Bird says, per Sports Illustrated<\/a>. \u201cI don’t feel like I’ve not lived my life. I think people have this assumption that if you’re not talking about it, you must be hiding it, like it’s this secret. That was never the case for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

2016: The pair began to communicate during the Olympics. According to NBC, Rapinoe shot Bird a text after she injured her knee in the quarterfinals (though she still went on to win gold).<\/p>\n

November 2015: The pair meet at the NBC and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee media summit ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. \u201cShe was in her basketball uniform and she had her hair down,\u201d Rapinoe told NBC<\/a> in 2021.<\/p>\n

Bird added, \u201cWe kinda crossed [paths] and she was like, \u2018Oh, hey! Ready for your game?’\u201d Bird joked that the introduction was \u201cso dorky\u201d while Rapinoe said she was kicking herself at the time for making “such a bad impression.”<\/p>\n

Bird continued, \u201cI walked away like, \u2018I thought you were supposed to be cool?’ We joke about it now ’cause she was a total dork.\u201d<\/p>\n

This post may be updated.<\/p>\n

Originally Appeared on Glamour<\/a><\/p>\n