From classic rock to bumpin' new pop songs, here's a curated list of crowd-pleasers.
Updated Mar 06, 2025An Exclusive Look Inside Olympic Gymnast Brody Malone's Love Story With Serena Ortiz
Plus, they tease their plans for a "coastal grandmother" wedding next summer.
Photo: Getty Images | Design: Natalie Romine
Olympic gymnast Brody Malone has a love story worth flipping out over. You might recognize the American athlete as one of the buzziest names competing at the Paris Games. A three-time US national all-around champion, Malone's presence at the 2024 Olympics is somewhat of a miracle, following a devastating knee injury last year. But after an incredible recovery, the gymnast is poised to make his second Olympic appearance this summer.
It may seem like a twist of fate, then, that gymnastics brought him together with his longtime love. So, who is Brody Malone's fiancée? The athlete is engaged to Serena Oritz, who he's known since high school. Following their New Year's Eve engagement in 2023, the to-be-weds are excitedly planning their wedding day—all while Malone prepares for his highly-anticipated appearance in Paris. Ahead of the 2024 Games, we caught up with Brody Malone and his fiancée to look back on their sweet love story, including how his injury brought them closer than ever before. Plus, they open up about their plans for a "Southern living" wedding, and how they've managed to plan their big day amid the Olympics.
In this article:
- All About Brody Malone's Love Story with Serena Ortiz
- Inside Brody Malone's Engagement
- Brody Malone's Wedding Vision
All About Brody Malone's Love Story with Serena Ortiz
We love hearing stories of couples who met—and fell in love—at the Olympics. While that wasn't exactly the case for Brody Malone and his fiancée, Serena Ortiz, they did cross paths through gymnastics. "One of my teammates at my club gym in high school introduced us," Malone recalls in an interview with The Knot. "After a year of getting to know him, he came up to me one day and said, 'Hey, I know a girl I think you would really like. I'm gonna invite her to come to the gym.'"
FEATURED VIDEO FROM THE KNOT
Ortiz, who had known this mutual friend since kindergarten, originally wasn't going to accept the offer. But curiosity got the best of her, and she stopped by practice one night in the summer of 2017. "As soon as I met him, I thought, 'I really like this guy,'" Ortiz says. Shortly after leaving, she got his number from their mutual friend and sent the first message. The rest was history. "For me, you could say it was love at first sight," she adds.
Shortly after they made things official that fall, Ortiz decided she was in for the long haul—but dating a professional athlete required plenty of sacrifices. Since the couple attended college on opposite coasts, Ortiz prioritized online classes so she could travel the country and attend Malone's tournaments. "I made a conscious decision that I was going to see him once a month, because I knew he didn't have time," she says. Adds Malone: "If she wasn't willing to be that dedicated, it may have been a different story. I'm super blessed and grateful that she was as dedicated as she was to our relationship. She was an honorary member of the Stanford men's gymnastics team."
The couple's relationship was put to the test in March 2023, when Malone suffered a devastating knee injury at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge in Germany. After slipping from a high bar dismount, Malone dislocated his knee, tore multiple ligaments, and fractured his tibia. The gruesome injury required three operations and over a year of training and rehab. But against the odds, he fought his way back and earned a spot on Team USA's Paris roster.
While the injury was a crushing setback, it proved to be a key moment of growth in his relationship. Once he was safely back in the United States, Ortiz and Malone's father took turns looking after him during post-op recovery. "I had to have someone [with me] because I couldn't do anything on my own," he says. "By having her there, literally waiting on me hand and foot, I could see the love in her heart, and it just made me realize how special of a person she was. We grew so close and had some amazing conversations, because I couldn't do anything else. It was time very well spent with each other."
Inside Brody Malone's Engagement
At the time of his injury, Brody Malone and his girlfriend had been dating for about six years, so there was no questioning the seriousness of their relationship. But the aftermath of those weeks spent together only solidified that Ortiz was "the one."
While some Olympians plan their life milestones in four-year cycles around the Games, Malone didn't feel the need to pop the question by a certain date. "I knew that when I had the right feeling and I wanted to do it, I was gonna do it," Malone explains, "So I didn't really take that part into consideration."
The perfect opportunity came on New Year's Eve in 2023, when the couple was on a trip to Sarasota, Florida. Although he tried to be "sneaky" with his intentions, Ortiz knew a proposal was imminent when her parents and best friend decided to join them. "That tipped me off a little bit," she says with a smile.
Ortiz's one request for the engagement was that Malone hire a photographer to capture everything. So, on the last day of the year, he woke her up at five o'clock to watch the sunrise at their favorite spot in Longboat Key. "She knew it was coming," Malone says, "But I'm glad we had the photographer because there were some pretty awesome pictures."
Brody Malone's Wedding Vision
Once it became clearer that Malone was likely going to compete in the Paris Olympics, they wasted no time planning their May 2025 wedding. Ortiz started using The Knot to manage their budget, stay on top of checklist tasks, and find their vendors—one of the first being the venue: a quaint lakeside plot of land not far from Malone's hometown in Georgia. "I've been to a couple of weddings there growing up, and I just loved it," he says.
Inspired by the Bridgerton-esque vintage toile theme and the buzzy coastal grandmother aesthetic, Ortiz says their nuptials will exude a timeless "Southern living" feel. "We'll have a lot of hydrangeas and hues of blue," she explains.
Even as Malone's preparations for Paris ramped up, the couple continued to take on wedding planning responsibilities as a team. "I'll find my favorite things, and then pick three to five options," she says. "I give them to him and ask for his favorite, which I've found is a lot less overwhelming."
Despite the mounting excitement for the gymnast's highly-anticipated appearance in the Games, the two are already dreaming about their big day. "I'm looking forward to seeing her for the first time walking down the aisle," Malone says. "I've heard that her dress is awesome, and I keep trying to be sneaky and find a picture of it, but she's been very protective."
As for Ortiz, she's excited to finally live with her partner after spending the majority of their relationship long-distance: "We've never lived together, so that's going to be a huge change for us."
