Wrestler Becomes Olympian, Then a Newlywed CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Less than 48 hours after making the United States Olympic wrestling team in front of 13,000 fans, Stephany Lee arrived at the wedding chapel in a Ford Explorer carrying Colorado plates and a small entourage. She changed into jeans and a striped shirt. Beaming, she made her way to an altar sitting in front of five rows of padded pews. With the power vested in the Rev. Jonathan Harnish, in front of her girlfriend's two children, her Olympic teammate Clarissa Chun and a family friend, Lee married her longtime partner, Brigg McDonald. No one objected. They just smiled and took photographs. The serendipitous combination of time and place - the Olympic trials being held in Iowa, where same-sex marriage has been legal since 2009 - was too perfect to let pass. "It was an opportune time," Lee said. And so a wedding to sanctify a long-term relationship was hastily arranged, four years in the making and about four days in the planning. Paperwork requirements were scouted online last week. Documents were retrieved earlier Monday at the Linn County offices, housed in a dying mall west of town because the main courthouse was flooded by the Cedar River four years ago. And the chapel on busy First Avenue was reserved for 3 p.m. McDonald wore a dress and a light sweater. Her 12-year-old son, Ethan, was the ring bearer. The five-minute ceremony stalled for just a moment as the ring would not fit over Lee's swollen finger. "That's what you get for wrestling," the reverend said. Soon enough, the union was sealed with a kiss. While some well-known Olympians have come out after their athletic careers ended, Lee heads to London as one of the few active athletes in history to publicly - and officially - acknowledge being gay. According to an unofficial tally by realjock.com at the end of the 2008 Beijing Games, there were fewer than a dozen known gay athletes among the roughly 11,000 competing there. The numbers belie the estimates that as much as 10 percent of the adult population in some countries is gay. "I think people are afraid what other people are going to say," Lee said. But I don't care what other people say. Lee, 27, has not made a secret of her sexuality. She told her parents in high school (they were supportive and not surprised, she said), and she and McDonald have lived together in Colorado Springs for four years. They met at the Finish Line Lounge near the United States Olympic headquarters and training center. But with her competing in the relatively confined world of women's wrestling, the subject was never raised by journalists. After her victory Saturday over the 2008 Olympian Ali Bernard in the 72-kg (158 ½-pound) weight class, speaking to a scrum of reporters at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Lee thanked several people for supporting her, including "my wife." The comment passed without a follow-up. "I am who I am, and I'm not going to hide it," Lee said Monday. I'm not going to dress like a girl to fit an image. No, I'm me. That's all that matters. She pondered whether such frankness about her sexuality would make her a sports pioneer of sorts among gays - a more influential one, of course, should she win a medal. She is considered a contender, not a favorite. "I'm not trying to be a spokesperson for lesbians as an athlete," Lee said. I'm just being me. Whatever comes of it is fine. McDonald, her two children - Ethan and Savannah, 10 - and her friend David Hurtado were in the stands when Lee, competing in her third Olympic trials, earned her spot in London. A black belt in judo, Lee celebrated by doing a twisting flip. She landed hard on her side, smacking the mat and startling the referee. Lee has a history of such irreverence, sometimes testing the patience of USA Wrestling officials. Her on-mat performances over the years have been inconsistent and occasionally peppered with petulance. In 2009, she forfeited her national title because she tested positive for marijuana. But she committed herself to making the Olympics this time around. One of her three teammates in London will be Chun, still disappointed at finishing fifth at the 2008 Olympics. Like Lee, Chun, 30, grew up in Honolulu. They went to different high schools, but Chun and Lee knew each other as girls competing in judo tournaments. Lee began wrestling to help improve her judo and like Chun eventually switched to wrestling full-time. She followed Chun to Missouri Valley College, then to the training center in Colorado Springs at the invitation of USA Wrestling. That led Lee to this moment - a memorable trip to Iowa to earn a spot in the Olympics and to marry McDonald. For now, a ring. Later, perhaps, a medal. "I wear a ring, and I have been wearing a ring," Lee said before Monday's ceremony. I know I want to be with her the rest of my life. This is a validation of that. The wedding party emerged back into the daylight, squinting at the bright sun. The reverend wanted photographs for himself, too, because it is not every day that an Olympian shows up to get married. But there was little dawdling. The wedding party climbed back into the Explorer, headed back to the mall for the official marriage certificate. And then it was headed back to Colorado. Lee and McDonald expected to spend their first night of marriage together somewhere around Omaha, probably.