Dubai: Olympic Games are known to break records. The athletes have been preparing for a lifetime to showcase their skills at the pinnacle of sporting glory and motivate themselves to give their best. Through the years, many legends were born during the Olympic Games who push hard to etch their names in the history books. Paris also witnessed a few records being broken but it was a record broken outside the playing field that caught everyone’s attention. The City of Love saw seven marriage proposals as the athletes went down on one knee to propose to their partners during the July 26 to August 11 showpiece, including a double proposal in Marseille following the sailing events. The marriage proposals began even before the games kick-started with Argentines handballer Pablo Simonet and Maria Campoy, a member of the women’s hockey team, got engaged before the opening ceremony on July 26.
The seven pairs that exchanged rings in front of Olympic rings:
Pablo Simonet and Maria Campoy
The Argentine Olympians have been a romantic couple since 2015 and were part of the contingent in Rio 2016. After eight years together, the moment came when Simonet went down on one knee after the group photo and presented the ring to Campoy, who accepted the proposal amid the cheers from their teammates. Paris 2024 could also be the Olympic farewell for Campoy, who did not participate in Tokyo 2020, but returned to the team for the final hurrah. However, she could not better Argentina’s silver medal in Tokyo after finishing with a bronze in Paris.
Alice Finot and Bruno Martinez Bargiela
French runner Alice Finot missed the 3,00-metre bronze by a whisker after finishing fourth in the final, but apart from setting an European record she decided to turn the heartbreak into a heartfelt moment by proposing to her boyfriend, Spanish triathlete, Bruno Martinez Bargiela. She made it more romantic by pinning a “Love is in Paris” plate on his shirt. “I told myself that if I ran under nine minutes, knowing that nine is my lucky number and that we’ve been together for nine years, then I would propose,” Finot said. The Frenchwoman finished in 8 minutes, 58.67 seconds on Tuesday and then ran over to the stands where she found her boyfriend and proposed to him. Bargiela accepted it, sending the crowd into raptures.
Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon
French women’s skiff sailors decided to tavel to dreamland with their respective partners after winning the Olympic bronze. Steyaert and Picon were welcomed ashore by their partners, who went on one knee and the duo readily accepted their offer.
“Our boyfriends said at the beginning of the project that if we won a medal we would be engaged but mine said ‘only gold or silver’, so after the medal race I said: ‘OK so I will not be engaged,” Steyaert told a press conference after the medals ceremony. But when the sailors got back to the beach in Marseille, both their boyfriends were waiting to propose. “Of course, we had to say yes,” Steyaert said as she flashed the engagement ring on her finger.
“She plans to retire now,” Picon’s partner Jean-Emmanuel Mestre said, with their young daughter Lou adding: “from sport”.
Justin Best and Lainey Duncan
Justin Best was part of the Team USA who won the men’s coxless four after edging out New Zealand to silver with a time of 5:49.03. After celebrating USA’s first coxless gold in 64 years with his teammates Nick Mead, Michael Grady and Liam Corrigan, on the TODAY Show, he created the perfect set-up to propose to his girlfriend Lainey Duncan of nine years. Family members held 2,738 yellow roses, symbolising each day of their Snapchat streak, during the proposal, which was aired live on television. “I knew you were special from our first date. I told you I wanted to go to the Olympics, and you unhesitatingly supported me,” he said before asking: “Will you marry me?” with the Eiffel Tower as the perfect backdrop.
Huang Ya Qiong and Liu Yuchen
It was a victory lap that turned into a memorable one for China’s Huang Yaqiong. After winning the mixed doubles gold with Zheng Siwei, Huang went on a celebratory lap at La Chapelle Arena, where her boyfriend Liu Yuchen, who won the doubles silver in Tokyo, handed her a bouquet of flowers and went down on one knee to present an engagement ring with delirious fans cheering the celebratory couple.
Payton Otterdahl and Maddy Nilles
The eight-year wait comes to fruition for American shot putter Payton Otterdahl, who made amends for missing the podium finish by proposing to his girlfriend Maddy Nilles. Otterdahl made the proposal to Nilles, who was promoted to a full-time assistant coach for throws, next to the Eiffel Tower. “Meanwhile, in the City of Love…I love you forever, Maddy Nilles! @maddynilles27 ❤️,” Otterdahl wrote on Instagram with a series of photos.
Alessia Maurelli and Massimo Bertelloni
“I can’t believe it. It’s a very strange day. I think it’s maybe one of the most beautiful days of my life. I will remember it forever, and I’m very happy,” were the words uttered by Alessia Murelli, who captained Team Italy to the bronze medal on Saturday. But the reaction of three-time Olympian was for the marriage proposal from her boyfriend of two years, Massimo Bertelloni. As soon as Maurelli got off the podium, she saw her boyfriend on one knee. “This ring and this medal smell of the future and I’m very happy to live this with my best friends. teammates, and with my future husband,” she added. The Italian national Olympic team’s official handle posted on X that “SHE SAID YES.” “First, the Olympic bronze with the Rhythmic Butterflies, then the ring! What a joy for Alessia Maurelli and her Massimo!!!”
