There Have Been 7 (!) Olympic Athlete Engagements in Paris During the Games
The City of Love is City of Loving. đâ¤ď¸
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The City of Love just got a whole lot more romantic! Throughout the Olympic Games, contenders from all over the world take center stage to represent their countries in a series of events that are the result of years of practice. And while each competition is a showcase of athletic abilities, this yearâs players also took it upon themselves to display a more intimate side. đĽşâ¤ď¸ Enter: a buncha proposals that went down at the 2024 Paris Olympics and melted our hearts.
From French skiff sailors Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon (aka âMama Teamâ due to both athletes bringing their children to sporting events) getting proposed to by their respective partners after winning Olympic bronze to Liu Yuchen getting down on one knee in the wake of Huang Ya Qiong landing the gold medal in badminton and Team USA rower Justin Best enlisting the help of Today to pop the question to his girlfriend of nine years in a heartfelt moment (did we mention it was live?!?!), here are some of our absolute fave proposals to go down at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
And dw! Because love is c-l-e-a-r-l-y in the air, weâll be using this gallery to keep track of every single engagement that hopefully goes down in the coming days until the Olympics officially comes to an end on *checks calendar* August 11, so definitely come back and check this list often! Now if youâll excuse us, weâll be out here manifesting that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce somehow miraculously make an appearance at the competition series, the celebs get swept up by all the romance, and they end up on this very list. đŻđŻđŻ*le sigh* A girl can dream!
Huang Ya Qiong and Liu Yuchen
Huang Ya Qiong already had a lot to celebrate after winning the gold medal in the badminton mixed doubles competition on August 2. How-ev-er (!!!!), once she went through the medal ceremony, fellow Chinese badminton player Liu Yuchen seriously upped the ante by gifting her a huge bouquet of flowers and getting down on one knee to pop the question!
The entire moment is pretty viralânot to mention adorable!âand the Olympics website even reported that Huang said the following after the big moment: âI cannot describe the feeling I have because I am happy, happy, happy. Getting the gold medal is recognition of our journey.â
The Mama Team
âKay, this one counts as two đs. After winning bronze medals for their incredible performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics on August 2, skiff sailors Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon returned ashore to be greeted by their boyfriends popping the question!
âOur boyfriends said at the beginning of the project that if we won a medal, we would be engaged, but mine said, âOnly gold or silver,â so after the medal race, I said, âOkay so I will not be engaged,ââ Sarah dished during a press conference after the medal ceremony.
But when she and fellow French athlete Charline got back to the beach in Marseille after their competition, both their boyfriends were waiting to propose. âOf course, we had to say yes,â Sarah cheekily added. Sâcute!
Payton Otterdahl and Maddy Nilles
On August 4, American shot putter Payton shared the sweetest pics on Instagram of himself proposing to his girlfriend Maddy Nilles. âMeanwhile, in the City of Love...I love you forever, Maddy Nilles! @maddynilles27 â¤ď¸,â the athlete captioned the post.
P.S. Weâre convinced truly nothing can top this pic of them celebrating the moment right under the Eiffel Tower. ÂŻ\_(ă)_/ÂŻ
Justin Best and Lainey Duncan
To say Justin Bestâs time at the Olympics was incredible is a serious understatement. Like, the rower legit made history at the 2024 Paris Olympics after bringing home the gold for Team USA for the first time in 60 (!!!) years. And to top off the incredible feat, he enlisted the help of the Today show on August 5 to ask his girlfriend of nine years to marry him!
While legit live on the air, the athlete got down on one knee and said, âI want to spend the rest of my life with you and raise a family together. Lainey, will you marry me?â...among a buncha other sweet things that made us legit ugly cry.
See the full moment for yourself right this way and prepare to go through an entire box of Kleenex.
Alice Finot and Bruno MartĂnez Bargiela
While Alice Finot didnât win a medal in the 3000-meter steeplechase on August 7, she did walk away with another prize in the form of a fiancĂŠ. She not only broke the European record with a time of 8:58.67 but asked her boyfriend, Spanish triathlete Bruno MartĂnez Bargiela, to marry her as she got down on one knee with a pin that read âLove is in Paris.â
âI told myself that if I ran under nine minutes, knowing that nine is my lucky number and that weâve been together for nine years, then I would propose,â Alice told reporters, per the Daily Mail. âI donât like doing things like everyone else. Since he hadnât done it yet, I told myself that maybe it was up to me to do it.â
Pablo Simonet and Maria Campoy
Argentinian field hockey player Maria Campoy got engaged to handball player Pablo Simonet before competing. The sweet moment went down when Team Argentinaâs handball and field hockey teams gathered for a group photoâand Pablo left the group to ask Maria for her hand in marriage. âThe woman in my life gave me a âyesâ 𤊠â¤ď¸,â Pablo wrote in Spanish alongside an Instagram Reel capturing the moment. âIn a dream place, where everything came from and where we fought so much to be.â
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