From one teammate to another, two-time U.S. luge Olympian Matt Mortensen married Alex Duma over the weekend, with his doubles luge partner Jayson Terdiman serving as the officiant.
“Did a thing yesterday.. think it’s permanent ;-)” Mortensen posted to Instagram. “So happy to be with this wonderful woman for the rest of my life! Equally as happy that we don’t have to plan a fourth wedding scenario #CoronaCantStopUs.”
In a short slideshow of the ceremony, the newlyweds can be seen exchanging their vows — and sealing them with a kiss — on a picture-perfect summer day with the Adirondack Mountains as a backdrop. They wed in the upstate New York town of Lake Placid, where Mortensen was based during his luge career and also where the couple met.
Mortensen, 34, retired in 2018 following two decades in the sport. A native of Huntington Station, New York, he rose through the junior ranks as a singles slider before switching to doubles. After just missing out on a spot in the 2010 Olympic Winters Games, Mortensen and partner Preston Griffall qualified for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, where they finished 14th.
He then teamed up with Terdiman in what proved to be a natural pairing, winning three national titles, a handful of world cup medals and then finishing 10th at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. They were also part of the U.S. team that finished just off the podium in fourth in the mixed team relay.
A long member of the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program, or WCAP, he announced his retirement the following summer.
According to a 2018 story from TBR News Media, which covers Mortensen’s hometown on Long Island, Duma grew up in Romania, where she was a national champion swimmer. She moved to the U.S. at age 19 and became a chiropractor.
The couple met around four years ago when Duma, from New York City, was volunteering at the Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Lake Placid. Mortensen asked her out, TBR News Media reported, but she initially rebuffed the offer in case she had to treat him as a patient. Finally, several months later, that was no longer a possibility and they began dating.
While Terdiman had the honors of officiating the wedding, several of Mortensen’s former Team USA teammates were quick to congratulate the happy couple on social media.
“What a babe🍾 (Alex I mean...sry Matt 😝),” wrote Olympic bronze medalist Erin Hamlin. “Such a beautiful day ❤️”
