Cross-sport connection: Arizona Cardinals' Michael Wilson cheers for US soccer star Sophia Smith at the 2024 Olympics

Paris 2024 has so far provided us with many beautiful moments of support between athletes and their partners in the stands.

Like Tom Daley waving to his husband and two children after claiming silver, when Simone Biles’ husband Jonathan Owen was spotted cheering her on from the crowd, or how Adam Peaty’s son asked his father “Daddy, are you the fastest boy?” prior to his 100m breaststroke final.

But what happens when an Olympic athlete’s other half is also a professional athlete playing halfway around the world?

That’s the case for USA soccer star Sophia Smith, whose fiancé Michael Wilson, a wide receiver for NFL side Arizona Cardinals, finds himself having to cheer her on from 5,399 miles away in Arizona in the thick of his pre-season schedule.

The 23 year-old Portland Thorns forward netted two goals in Team USA’s 4-1 win over Germany, and claimed an assist in their 3-0 win over Zambia.

Teaming up with Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman, Smith forms one third of the trio that have provided six of USA’s seven goals in the Paris 2024 tournament so far.

Smith earned her first senior call-up in 2017 at the age of 16, but had to wait until 2020 to make her senior debut.

Despite debuting in 2020, she was omitted from the Tokyo Olympics squad, making Paris 2024 her first taste of Olympic football.

Throughout his pre-season schedule, Wilson has been receiving constant updates on Smith’s performances - even opting to take to the field later than he normally would to watch as much USWNT action as he can in the locker room.

It’s been down to the Arizona Cardinals staff to keep the 24 year-old up to date when he’s out on the field, and they did just that when Smith secured her brace against the Germans in the Paris 2024 group stages.

Although the wide receiver would like to be in the French capital to cheer on Smith in person, he knew it wasn’t an option given his own professional sporting career.

"It's too important of a year to miss," he told the media.

“It feels like the same thing as last year," he explained, referencing the fact that he couldn’t be out in Australia and New Zealand for the 2023 Women’s World Cup. "So, it prepared me big time."

Wilson proposed to the 2022 NWSL MVP in June 2024, working with her agency to trick her into thinking she was invited to an Olympic dinner ahead of Paris 2024.

Instead, he was there waiting with an engagement ring.

"Everything went perfectly right,” said Wilson. “I didn't slip up, didn't fumble over my words. It honestly was one of the best days of my life, truthfully."

Sophia Smith is next set to be in action for Team USA when they take on Australia on (Wednesday) 31 July in Group B of the Paris 2024 competition.