From Olympic golden girl to pastor’s wife: Inside Stephanie Rice’s life, relationships and career
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Just this week, Stephanie Rice reintroduced herself to the world with a new name. Yet, Australia will always know the former Olympian for her achievements.
From sweeping three gold medals in Beijing to navigating national controversies, Stephanie’s journey has been anything but predictable.
Beyond the Olympic pool, the 38-year-old’s life has seen radical shifts – from public heartbreak and career pivots to unexpectedly falling in love with pastor.
Stephanie Rice’s life has taken her from the Olympic pool to the Dubai skyline. Instagram/@itsstephrice
Here is a look back at the most defining moments of Stephanie Rice’s life, loves, and evolution on and off the world stage.
Australia’s ‘golden girl’ in the Beijing pool
Stephanie Rice was the name buzzing in every Aussie household after she achieved a perfect sweep at the 2008 Beijing Olympics: three events, three gold medals, and three world records.
At just 20 years old, she’d become the undisputed ‘golden girl’ of the pool.
Stephanie the gold for the 400-metre individual medley, the 200-metre individual medley and a third as part of the Australian 4×200 metre freestyle relay team.
The following year, Stephanie was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her many sporting accolades.
A 20-year-old Stephanie Rice won over the nation after winning three gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Getty
At the 2012 London Olympics, Stephanie did not win any medals, finishing fourth in the 200 metre individual medley and sixth in the 400 metre individual medley.
She was visibly emotional and broke down in tears after missing the podium.
By 2014, Stephanie retired from competitive swimming, citing a shoulder injury.
The then-25-year-old announced her retirement on her official website in a video recorded message.
“Coming off the Games, I really didn’t want to make a rash decision on my career and if I was going to keep swimming or not because I was still too emotional about the whole preparation that I’d just been through,” Stephanie said.
Stephanie retired from swimming in 2014 due to a shoulder injury, she was 25 at the time. Getty
The swimmer shared that she had "felt a lot of pressure" following her 2008 Beijing success before announcing she would be leaving the sport.
"I definitely feel like I'm losing a part of myself but I'm really excited about what's to come," she said at the time.
The controversial tweet that changed Steph’s life
Stephanie’s life and career was thriving following the success of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
But that came crumbling down after the Olympic gold medallist wrote a homophobic slur on X (formerly Twitter) in 2010.
Stephanie received immediate backlash when she celebrated the Wallabies’ win against South Africa by telling the opposing team: “suck on that f-----ts.”
The tweet from Stephanie, who was 22 at the time, garnered national attention from the likes of former Aussie rugby league player Ian Roberts.
Stephanie’s homophobic tweet saw the end of some major sponsorships that cost her hundreds of thousands. Getty
The actor, who is also gay, told News Corp at the time: “She is an idiot ... and anyone who continues to endorse her as an athlete is an idiot as well.”
Stephanie later apologised for the offensive tweet at a press conference: “I owe it to those who I have offended to publicly say I am sorry.”
"I also want to say it's just not me to cause offence to other people no matter who they are. I am not a person who judges others or speaks in a way that hurts the feelings of others," she continued.
The Olympian then added that her choice of words was “careless and thoughtless”, calling the incident the “worst time” in her career.
In 2023, Stephanie reflected on her controversial tweet saying it “changed [her] life” Network Seven
Stephanie was ultimately dropped from her sponsor Jaguar over the tweets, the sponsorship was reportedly worth over $100,000.
The swimmer re-addressed the controversy during her time on the reality show SAS Australia: Who Dares Wins in 2023.
“Winning three gold medals at the Beijing Olympics was the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said at the time.
"Overnight, that completely shifted. That tweet in 2010 definitely changed my life."
Steph’s career beyond the pool
Outside of swimming, Stephanie’s career extended into sports commentating, television presenting, fashion, reality TV, business consulting and athlete mentoring.
In 2013, she won the reality TV series Celebrity Apprentice, and appeared on another show SAS before she was forced to withdraw due to a dislocated shoulder.
Following her 2014 retirement, Rice continued working in the swimming circuit as a coach in the United States and managed her own sponsorships, endorsements and motivational speaking career for years.
She founded and managed her own global commercial partnership and business consulting venture Rice Enterprises until 2024.
She also worked as Head of Business Development for VisionX in Dubai from 2024 to 2025.
In 2026, Stephanie that she had been offered the role of CEO at Phygital International DMCC where she worked as a commercial director, but decided to turn it down and instead leave the business, leaving her unemployed for the first time in her life.
Steph’s spiritual journey
While millions knew her as an elite athlete driven by discipline, Stephanie’s life underwent a profound spiritual transformation in her post-swimming years.
Stepping away from the high-pressure world of professional sports left a void that she struggled to fill.
By the end of 2023, Stephanie found herself turning to her sister Courtney in an attempt to bring joy back to her life, with her sibling suggesting she attend a church service with her.
Stephanie found purpose in her faith after her sister Courtney invited her to a church service. Instagram/@itsstephrice
“I was like, I don’t know if faith is the answer, I had no idea, but I knew it wasn’t what I was doing so I was open to trying something else,” she told The Courier-Mail’s QWeekend.
“I was really ignorant of it, like I was not an avid supporter,” she said.
Although Stephanie’s sister Courtney introduced her to the new church, she said many of her family members don’t understand her devotion.
“A lot of people thought I’d lost my mind or fallen under some cult or something and that’s fine,” she said.
Stephanie had just one question for sceptics: “Aren’t you happy for me that I’m in a good place?”
Her spiritual path wasn’t just a personal comfort, faith was at the centre of her relationship with former soldier Dane Christison after they met at a Brisbane church in 2023. It also became the foundation of her connection with her husband, pastor Mark Lassey.
A fresh start in Dubai
Looking for a fresh chapter away from the Australian spotlight, Stephanie packed up her life and move to Dubai in November 2023.
The cosmopolitan hub offered her both personal privacy and a thriving platform to reinvent herself beyond her sporting legacy.
During her time in the UAE, Stephanie transitioned seamlessly into the corporate world, managing her business consulting venture, Rice Enterprises, before taking on high-level corporate roles.
Though her early months in Dubai involved navigating a long-distance relationship, the city ultimately became the backdrop for her romance with Lassey.
After getting engaged at the iconic Atlantis The Royal in late 2024, Stephanie officially made the Emirates her long-term home.
Steph’s past high-profile romances
Before her marriage to Lassey, Stephanie was in a relationship with former soldier Christison, whom she met in a Brisbane church in late 2023.
During their relationship, Stephanie moved her life to Dubai and while the pair maintained a long-distance relationship for a short while, they eventually split in May 2024.
Stephanie dated Dane Christison briefly from 2023 to 2024. Instagram/@stephanie_rice
During her Olympic fame, Stephanie dated fellow Aussie Olympic swimmer Eamon Sullivan from 2006 to 2008. They were dubbed Australia’s golden couple at the time.
The pair managed long distance between Brisbane and Perth but split just before they both headed to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
At the time, Sullivan confirmed the break-up had been a “mutual decision” to allow them to focus entirely on the Olympics. The pair remained friends and supported one another during their respective successes at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Stephanie and fellow Olympic swimmer Eamon Sullivan were an Aussie sport golden couple in the noughties. Getty
Stephanie then went on to date Australian Rugby Union player Quade Cooper briefly from 2010 to 2011.
After a year together Stephanie’s representative Titus Day confirmed their split in a statement: “Stephanie Rice has officially split with Quade and will be focusing 100 per cent on her Olympic preparation.”
Finding her forever: Steph and Mark’s love story
Stephanie met her husband Mark Lassey, 48, in early 2024 when they were introduced by a mutual friend.
He is a pastor of the Kingdomcity church and a father to three boys, Tyler, Joel, and Luke, from a previous marriage.
Rice first met her husband Pastor Mark Lassey in February 2024. By January 2025, the couple were married. Instagram/@itsstephrice
In July 2024, the pair went public with their romance five months after meeting, they said they “both knew this was different”.
“From the start, there was a deep intentionally 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.”
Stephanie and Mark tied the knot in Perth with not one but two celebrations. Instagram/@itsstephrice
While they maintained a long-distance relationship between Dubai and Perth, their love story moved rapidly.
After seven months of dating, Lassey proposed to Stephanie at the luxury Atlantis The Royal resort in Dubai in September 2024.
The couple were married by January 2025, tying the knot in Perth, hosting not one but two celebrations – including an outdoor ceremony at Sandalford Wines in the Swan Valley followed by a rooftop reception.
After starting their honeymoon in the Maldives, the pair fell ill and had to recover in a Paris hotel room.
By late 2026, Stephanie publicly shared that she officially took his last name as they embraced a fresh chapter of life together in Dubai.
