Chinese badminton player Huang Yaqiong had extra reason to celebrate after winning the gold medal at the Summer Olympics alongside her mixed doubles partner Zheng Siwei on Thursday. Just moments after stepping down from the podium at the medal ceremony, Huang was given a bouquet of roses by her teammate, who then got down on one knee and proposed.
And the spontaneous, romantic moment unfolded as millions around the world were watching live.
Chinese journalist Li Zexin posted the sweet moment on social media. "I’ll love you forever! Will you marry me?" Zheng asked Huang, who quickly replied, "Yes! I do!" Huang, who had her hand clasped over her face before her beau proposed, seemed overcome with emotion as she accepted. As Zheng placed the ring on her finger, the crowd went wild cheering.
"OMG!!! Romance at the Olympics!!!" Li wrote.
"I’ll love you forever! Will you marry me?"
— Li Zexin (@XH_Lee23) August 2, 2024
"Yes! I do!"
OMG!!! Romance at the Olympics!!!❤️❤️❤️
Huang Yaqiong just had her "dream come true", winning a badminton mixed doubles gold medal????with her teammate Zheng Siwei
Then her boyfriend Liu Yuchen proposed! ???????????? pic.twitter.com/JxMIipF7ij
Huang and Zheng, both three-time World Badminton Champions and two-time Badminton Asia Champions, previously won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. In winning the gold, they beat out Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun of South Korea 21–8 and 21–11 in mixed doubles to close out in Paris undefeated.
The couple have been teammates since at least 2017. It's unclear how long they've been romantic partners, though Zheng previously proposed after losing in the finals three years ago.
"For me, the proposal is very surprising because I have been preparing for the game," Huang said through an interpreter, via the Associated Press. "Today I am an Olympic champion and I got proposed (to), so that’s something I didn’t expect."
"I think it must be happier for her," Zheng added. "Last time it was purely for my proposal, but this time is basically double lucky things happening at the same time."
Though, Huang and Zheng are not even the first Olympians to get engaged in Paris this summer. Last month, before the Summer Games even kicked off, Argentinean handball player Pablo Simonet proposed to his girlfriend, field hockey player Maria Campoy, in the Olympic Village.
"The woman in my life gave me a 'yes,'" Simonet wrote on Instagram after Campoy accepted his proposal. It seems as though Paris is truly holding up to its reputation of being the "City of Love."
