Love is in the air in Rio, which has left one athlete with another event to celebrate alongside her well-earned medal.
Chinese diver He Zi had won silver for the women’s three metre springboard on Sunday, but after being awarded her medal she then received a proposal from boyfriend and fellow diver Qin Xai.
Qin got down on one knee while clasping a velvet box on Sunday as girlfriend He stepped off the medal podium. She clasped her hand over her mouth when Qin opened the box and nodded to him, before he slipped the ring on her finger.
He then gave her a red rose encased in glass and the crowd roared in delight as the couple hugged.
“We’ve been dating for six years, but I didn’t expect him to propose today,” He told the BBC. “He said a lot of things, made a lot of promises, but I think the thing that touched me the most is I think this is the guy I can trust for the rest of my life.”
Qin and He join another Olympic couple who became engaged at the Games: on Monday Marjorie Enya, a volunteer manager at the Deodoro Stadium, proposed to her girlfriend and Olympic rugby player Isadora Cerullo on the pitch following the medal ceremony for the women’s rugby sevens.
