An Olympic Love Story Gets Its Start in Montana

The Winter Olympics have officially begun, and if you, like me, get teary during the Olympics, particularly figure skating, you’ve likely discovered you can feed your emotional obsession by researching the backstories of the Olympians.

Thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with us 🙏🏻 https://t.co/OxHuxgL5br

— Tim Koleto 小松原尊 (@Timkoleto) February 5, 2022

This is how my husband and I discovered Tim Koleto and his partner, Misato Komatsubara, elegantly skating for Japan on Sunday night. I was enchanted by their song choice, John Williams' score for Memoirs of a Geisha. My husband took one look at the tall, Caucasian-looking male skater and had questions.

“Google says he was born in Kalispell, Montana,” he said.

We had to know more. Turns out Koleto has been skating since he was a tween as the youngest son in a long line of ice skaters.

Born in 1991, Koleto became a competitive skater at a young age, competing in singles, but injuries kept him from progressing the way he hoped to. He transitioned to ice dance, competing on Teams South Korea and Norway for several years. In 2016, Koleto worried about aging out of the sport he loved and contemplated hanging up his skates. Instead he decided to give it one more shot. He partnered with Japanese Olympian Komatsubara (apparently this is common) in 2016.

Koleto told ice-dance.com, “I’d actually reached a point in my career where I was feeling demotivated and confused about my future. I knew I still wanted to skate, but after two partnerships that didn’t go as I’d hoped, I started to think maybe it just wasn’t going to happen.”

Komatsubara was at a similar crossroads, considering leaving her career behind, but their mutual passions and places in life cemented their bond on and off the ice. They ended up falling in love, eloping, and now he’s a Japanese citizen. The internet calls them Mr. and Mrs. Koko.

Oh, and he writes fantasy novels in his spare time, even inking a book deal with Penguin before it merged with Randomhouse, causing the deal to fall through. Koleto isn’t discouraged, though, and is already several chapters into writing a new novel.

Koleta was mostly raised in Colorado and describes Montana, which churns out half a dozen winter Olympians every season, as a distant memory. Well, if ever he returns and brings his lovely and talented wife, Montana will turn on the charm. Montana is, after all, a great place to write.

Thanks for skating into our hearts, Koleto and Komatsubara.