Team USA's married goalball couple want to celebrate one more gold in Rio
Jen Armbruster and Asya Miller, partners on and off court, hope to put on a great show for the public at Rio 2016
Asya Miller and Jen Armbruster, on the right, celebrate together winning gold in Beijing 2008 (Guang Niu/Getty Images)
In good times and in bad, in sickness and in health…on and off the court? Few couples have to think about sporting performance when exchanging wedding vows, but for Asya Miller and Jen Armbruster, two star athletes from the USA’s goalball team, who happen to be married to each other, it’s an everyday reality. In an interview with Rio 2016, the gold-winning couple spoke about their expectations for the Rio 2016 Games and how the sport changed their lives and brought them together.
“Of course it was through goalball that I met Jen. Until the birth of our son, my life revolved around sport, from the day-to-day routine to the fantastic experience of travelling the world. The sport defined me and mostly still does. I am a Paralympic Athlete,” Asya Miller said.
“Above all, goalball was how we came to meet,” Jen said.
Not everyone can tell the story of how they became both Paralympic Champion and World Champion alongside the person they love, but for Asya and Jen it is the story of their relationship. In 2014, Asya Millar (35), celebrated winning the World Title and a spot at the Paralympics with her wife alongside her, and she was also named the best player of the tournament. Guess who her role-model was in her first years of goalball?
“I actually thought Jen was "stuck up" the very first time we met. But the more I was around her, and learned what we had in common, we got to know each other. I admired her, because she was a great goalball player, had already been to two Paralympics, and was a world-renowned centre,” Asya said.
As for Jen? “I just thought she wasn’t very nice and was a bit cocky!”
Since 1992, Jen Armbruster has taken part in six Paralympic Games (Photo: Guang Niu/Getty Images)
Just because they play on the same team doesn’t mean their marriage is any different from any other: arguments and sweet-talking are part of the lives of Asya and Jen. But how to stop personal life spilling over into the court? The solution may be to watch yourself, but sometimes there is no stopping it.
“Occasionally we do argue like spouses and our teammates laugh at it. And sometimes we use terms of endearment on the court,” Asya said
And when things are getting a bit tense at home…
“What a way for a couple to vent, throwing a 1.25kg goalball at each other at about 50kph,” Jen jokes.
Playing together for the US, Asya and Jen had already won silver at Athens 2004. But it was only after they married, in 2007, that the gold came, after they beat the hosts 6-5 in Beijing 2008. Before they played together, they had both won a bronze at the Paralympics. Jen in Atlanta 1996 and Asya at Sydney 2000. In 2011, one more major achievement: a few months before the Parapan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, their son Ryder was born.
“We do not know the donor personally but we do have a lot of background info on him and we purposefully selected him based on some characteristics and such. Asya is the biological mother but many folks say how they can see me in Ryder. It is amazing to me but it makes sense because of how we selected the donor,” Jen said.
Jen and Asya, with their son Ryder: with six medals to their credit they are no ordinary family (Photo: Reprodução/Facebook)
The couple’s most recent title came in 2014, when they finally claimed gold in the World Championships after silver in 2010 and bronze in 2006. The next competition in the couple’s sights is the Parapan American Games in Toronto 2015, but their major goal is gold in the Rio 2016 Games. Already half of the event’s participants have qualified.
For Jen, there’s an even stronger reason to give it her all: aged 40 – after having dedicated 25 years of her life to goalball – she is preparing to retire from the sport. And, of course, she hopes to leave with a golden send-off.
“It would be wonderful to walk away from my athletic career hearing my national anthem one more time, but to be able to share the high and low moments with a group of wonderful ladies, that is what I remember, and can only hope for this in 2016,” the goalball legend said.
“I expect the games to be a lot of fun, as it is taking place in the city of Carnival! And We want to put on a great show for all the public,” Asya added.
