Brittney Griner holds hands with wife Cherelle while enjoying night out in Paris

Modified Aug 12, 2024 17:51 GMT

Brittney Griner and her wife, Cherelle, have been through a lot in the last few years together. In 2022, the Team USA star and her wife were separated for 10 months before she was released from the Russian prison. For the first time in a country other than the United States since being released, Griner and Cherelle are making the most of their time.

In a released video from earlier Monday, the Phoenix Mercury star held her wife's hand during a night out in Paris. In the video, Griner entered into a bar with her Team USA Olympic teammates, while she held Cherelle's hands.

In the next part, she came out of the pub, again holding her wife's hand. Connecticut Sun stars DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas, her partner, were also seen coming out of the club.

Both Brittney Griner and her wife Cherelle went through a tough time together when the WNBA star was arrested in Russia in February 2022. After being sentenced to nine years in Russian prison, Cherelle fought hard to press the American government to help her wife get home.

Griner was released in a prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout with the Russian government on Dec. 8, 2022.

After Russian prison sentence, Brittney Griner credits her wife for saving their marriage

Brittney Griner and Cherelle's love stood tall in the face of perhaps the hardest time of their marriage. While an impossible scenario stood in front of both, Griner was willing to give Cherelle the freedom that she thought her wife deserved.

However, Cherelle's love didn't flicker for a second. She was willing to wait and fight for the love of her life.

“I went through so many emotions being locked up, and just thinking about nine years,” Griner told People magazine in May. “We planned on having kids and doing all these amazing things together, and now I'm thinking, ‘Is that going to happen? How can I ask her to wait?’ ”

“I gave her an out. But she was basically like, ‘What? Stop it. Don’t you ever say that.’”

Now that they are together, the couple are in love more than ever. They have a family together, with son Bash being the third member. The 2014 WNBA champion has a tally of three gold medals after Sunday's win in Paris. She is now complete inside and outside the basketball court.