Maree Wilkinson
If they gave out medals for proposals, Olympic rower Michael Brake would be adding to his collection! The champion athlete, who won gold with the men’s eight in Tokyo, knew he needed to do something special to pop the question to his partner, Black Fern Sevens star Michaela Blyde.
And as the pair stood overlooking a beautiful stand of native bush outside a rustic and secluded cabin in Raglan – complete with roses on the bed and hidden photographers in the shrubbery – Michael, 28, finally seized the moment to get down on one knee.
The couple are excited to plan their wedding.
As his bride-to-be shows off her stunning solitaire diamond engagement ring, he tells Woman’s Day, “I really wanted to give Michaela the best proposal experience I could because I love her a lot.”
“He did a phenomenal job,” smiles rugby superstar Michaela, 27. “I was absolutely blown away.”
While their engagement was like something out of a fairy tale, the sporting power couple’s journey since first meeting in 2021 was a little more complex. The pair began seeing each other in between lockdowns, after Michael spied a “hot-looking chick” on an Instagram story and decided to message her.
“I wasn’t following him at the time, so it went to my message requests,” laughs Michaela. “But I replied and we began chatting. We began dating right in the lead-up to our Olympic campaigns – he was in a COVID bubble with Rowing NZ in Cambridge and I’m based in Papamoa.
“It was hard for us to see each other in the beginning because we had to be so aware of each other’s health.”
‘Michael made it the best moment of my life so far. I’m so excited at what’s to come!’
Their relationship was under wraps for two or three months as they navigated getting to know each other, while meeting their sporting obligations and lockdown restrictions. Finally, they “went public” with their romance at the Olympics, where they both earned gold medals.
“The fact that we were living such similar lives but were on very different paths helped bring us closer,” explains Michael. “Although when they say ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’, I don’t think it’s how you’re meant to start a relationship!”
“I was so impressed and inspired at the life she’s built up for herself,” says Michaela’s besotted fiancé Michael
Distance still proved to be a tricky element in their romance in the months that followed the Games, with the pair dividing their time between Michaela’s base in Tauranga and Michael’s in Cambridge, before he moved in with her earlier this year, after retiring from rowing.
“We’re not doing the long-distance thing any more, which is great!” says Michaela.
“We used to spend more time apart than we did together. With Michael working in Cambridge while I carried on with Sevens, we were only spending weekends together for about 12 months.
“It got to a point where it got really difficult and I missed him way too much. I would just dread Sundays because it was the day I had to go back to Tauranga and be away from Michael.”
Michaela in action for the Black Ferns Sevens team.
The pair knew from early on that they’d each found “the one”, with their shared love of sport proving to be a solid foundation from which to build their relationship. They also say they speak the same love language – laughter.
“What made me fall in love with Michael was his perspective on life,” shares Michaela. “He’s extremely driven, which helps because I’m such a driven person as well, and we’re able to work with each other on our goals and ambitions. He’s very inspiring, he has no limits and he makes sure we live every day to the fullest. I felt like I needed someone like him in life.
“But he’s also extremely funny – and very handsome too! We laugh so much. That’s something I’ve always wanted in a relationship, where you just crack up at each other every day.”
A cabin getaway was the perfect location to pop the question – complete with a photographer hiding in the bushes!
For Michael, it was Michaela’s focus and ambition that drew him in, but it was her kind nature that made him fall in love. “She’s so, so caring,” he grins. “She’s so organised – which contrasts with the organised chaos in my life! – and I was just so impressed and inspired at the life she’s built for herself.
“I don’t think we’ve had a single argument since we’ve been together – perhaps one or two disagreements, but there’s a lot of, ‘Oh, I see where you’re coming from.’ We just click together quite well and we have from the beginning.”
So it was only a matter of time until the big question was popped, with Michael deciding to propose earlier this year, using their pre-arranged cabin getaway as cover.
“I only ended up having two weeks to sort it because I’d asked Michaela’s parents and her mum told me she could only keep the secret for that long!” laughs Michael. “So I knew I wanted to do it at the cabin – it’s a gorgeous spot and it was perfect.”
Michael winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics with the men’s rowing eight.
After planning his proposal down to the minute – including looping in Michaela’s coach to ensure she got away from training on time, friends to ensure she did in fact leave her fitness session when she said she would and even roping in their flatmate to make sure Michaela looked “presentable” – it was finally go time.
Although the big moment wasn’t without a few hitches.
“The cabin was at the top of a 750m hill – and I’d just done a super-intense training session,” giggles Michaela. “So the whole time we’re walking up, I’m complaining my back’s sore and my calves are sore, and Michael’s just cruising up.”
With a grin, he chimes in, “I’m an endurance athlete – she’s a sprint athlete!”
But eventually, they made it to the top of the hill, where a new challenge presented itself.
Laughing, Michael recalls, “She was flapping her shirt around like she was going to take it off, but there was a photographer and a videographer hiding in the bushes, so I’m terrified!”
But the top stayed on and Michaela eventually made her way into the cabin, where a bunch of roses were laid out. Thinking it was the cabin staff who’d left them, she turned around to tell Michael, who was already on one knee.
“I just lost it,” she says. “He asked me if I’d marry him and, of course, I said yes – and then about 20 seconds later, I see the photographer coming out of the bush and I’m like, ‘What the heck?!'”
Fittingly for a couple named Michaela and Michael, the stunning engagement ring is from Michael Hill, a gold solitaire that the Black Fern had already fallen in love with.
“I was dancing around the shop with it!” she grins.
Michael rounded out the special moment with Champagne, before escorting Michaela to a surprise dinner where her family had gathered to celebrate with them.
“That was the cherry on top for me – that he thought to include our family – so I lost it again!” she confesses.
“It was almost better than the proposal itself because it meant so much to me to have all of the most important people in my life there.
“Honestly, it was so much more than I could have ever expected. It was my dream proposal and Michael made it the best moment of my life so far. I’m so excited at what’s to come – the wedding, of course!”
