Aly Raisman, Colton Underwood Dating: Olympic Gymnast Confirms That She And NFL Tight End Are An Item

Aly Raisman and Colton Underwood are officially dating! Five months after the Olympic gymnast agreed to go on a date with the NFL tight end, the couple admitted to People Magazine that they’ve been keeping their relationship on the down-low.

You may remember that back in August, as People reported at the time, Raisman asked Underwood for a date. Aly appeared in a Yahoo Sports video, and she made it known that she was interested in a date with Colton. A double date, to be specific; she asked Colton to join her on a double date with Colton’s teammate, Andrew East, who is married to Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson.

At the time, according to USA Today, Colton said he thought it was only right that he give Aly a date, considering her outstanding performance at the Rio Olympics.

“She did a great job and her whole team did of representing the USA, so I felt like it was only right for me to send a congratulations and extend an offer when she got back and had some down time.”

The two budding lovebirds then publicly exchanged sweet nothings on Twitter, both telling the other they were looking forward to their big date.

@Colt3FIVE thanks for the sweet video…. looking forward to meeting you ?

— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) August 21, 2016

Anytime! Looking forward to meeting you too. Safe travels back, see you soon! https://t.co/vWRhhqR5up

— Colton Underwood (@Colt3FIVE) August 21, 2016

It’s not clear where Aly and Colton went on their first date, but it was somewhere in Denver.

“We happened to both be in Denver at the same time. I was there for less than 12 hours, he was flying in for just a few days. it just ended up working perfectly.”

It appears that the two hit it off on that first date; there was a second and then a third. Aly says that Colton drove about 90 minutes each way, from the Oakland Raiders practice facility (Colton was signed to the Raiders’ practice squad at the time, before being released later that month) to San Jose, where Aly was based at the time, to meet up for their dates.

By August 28, the night of the VMAs, Aly and Colton went from casually seeing each other to officially dating, but they decided to “keep it quiet for a while.” During that quiet period of their relationship, Aly met Colton’s parents — and once you meet the parents, your relationship is the real deal.

This week, they officially stepped out as a couple, walking the red carpet arm in arm at the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year ceremony.

As for what the future holds for the couple, that remains to be seen. Underwood, 24, and Raisman, 22, are both professional athletes, which means that both of them can be expected to have pretty full schedules, between practices, workouts, competitions, and appearances. Underwood, for his part, is currently a free agent and isn’t signed to any NFL team.

Wherever he winds up, odds are good it will be some distance away from Aly, and the two will have to figure out how to make their relationship work long-distance.

For Aly, she’s not focusing on their likely difficulties, for now. Instead, she’s looking forward to what the coming year brings.

“I’m just looking forward to 2017. I think it’s going to be an exciting year for everyone.”

Here’s to a lifetime of happiness to Aly Raisman and Colton Underwood.

[Featured Image by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images]