Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice might not be going home with a medal, but she may have snagged herself an NBA star at the London Olympics! The three-time gold medalist was seen catching the Woman’s Cycling yesterday with L.A. Laker and Team USA basketball player Kobe Bryant. Witnesses say that the two were laughing and cozying up to one another in the stands, and tabloids are screaming that these two are now an item. We’re know there’s a breast stroke joke in there, but we’ve decided that we’re better than that.

The athletes were introduced several weeks ago, and Stephanie tweeted a picture of the meeting with the caption “First piccy with a “star” going to be hard to beat… Kobe.” They even went so far as to present each other with gifts. Stephanie gave him two of her swim caps, and Kobe apparently gave her a pair of sneakers that he hilariously signed “To Stephanie. Be epic.” 5th and 4th place respectively in the Woman’s 200M Semifinals and Finals might not qualify as “epic,” but it’s still good enough for Kobe because they’re still hanging out.

Who knows the reality of their relationship, as his ex-wife Vanessa is also in town with their children. Considering the two still occasionally kiss, this might not be the best time for some Olympian-on-Olympian action. But then again, what do we know? Stephanie, for her part, was linked to a guy called Michael Phelps (heard of him?) when they were both competing at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. We guess she has a thing for champs? Or maybe it’s just realllllllly tall dudes.

[Photo: Instagram]