My cousin has an MBE.
He's also divorced. Though he got the MBE long before that, so they're not really related.
Which brings me on to my main point (I'm not just bragging about my cousin): I wouldn't give up a relationship for a medal/honour, but I would (or at least might) give it up for an interest/career/ambition related to that honour. So if I wanted to be an athlete (I don't, but I'll use your example), I wouldn't let a relationship stand in the way of achieveing that. If a girlfriend forced me to choose between her and an MBE, I would choose her. But if she forced me to choose between her and a lifelong ambition, I would choose the ambition.