Frenchman Finot breaks steeplechase record, proposes to boyfriend
French athlete Alice Finot celebrated breaking the European record in the women’s 3000 metres steeplechase during the final on Tuesday by proposing to her boyfriend after the race.
Finot finished fourth with a time of 8:58.67 behind medalists Winfred Yavi of Bahrain, Peruth Chemutai of Uganda and Faith Cherotich of Kenya. It was the first time four women broke the nine-minute mark.
Finot then went to the stands to hug her boyfriend — triathlete Bruno Martínez Bargiela of Spain — and got down on one knee to propose with an Olympic pin. Bargiela said yes, and Finot pinned his shirt.
French athlete Alice Finot broke the European steeplechase record by finishing fourth in the final and then proposing marriage. 🥹 #Olympic Games in Paris photo.twitter.com/BreMAAsq2A
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 7, 2024
“I told myself that if I could run under nine minutes, knowing that nine is my lucky number and that we have been together for nine years, I would ask her to marry me,” Finot told reporters. according to the Daily Mail.
“I don’t like to do things like everyone else. Since he hadn’t done it yet, I told myself maybe it was up to me to do it. So I gave a pin that I was running with to my boyfriend. It says: Love is in Paris.”
With her proposal, Finot joined a growing list of Olympians who got engaged during the Paris Games.
Last week, China’s Huang Ya Qiong walked away from her badminton mixed doubles final with a gold medal and a diamond ring after her boyfriend, Liu Yu Chen, a Chinese badminton player also competing in Paris, surprised her with flowers and a proposal. Huang said yes.
On Friday, French skiff partners Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon sailed were proposed to by their respective boyfriends after winning bronze in the women’s skiff 49erFX. Their boyfriends promised Steyaert and Picon that they would get engaged if the sailing partners won a medal.
American shot putter Payton Otterdahl proposed to his girlfriendMaddy Nilles, in front of the Eiffel Tower on Sunday, a day after finishing fourth in the men’s shot put final. On Monday, American rower Justin Best engaged to his girlfriend, Lainey Duncan, live on the “Today” show.
The day before the opening ceremony, the male handball player Pablo Simonet has proposed to hockey player Maria Campoy during a photo opportunity for Argentine athletes in the Olympic Village.
(Photo: Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
