China’s Zheng Siwei (right) and Huang Yaqiong will play Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino on Thursday during their semi-final in the mixed doubles badminton at the Olympic Games in Paris.
10:59 JST, August 3, 2024
PARIS (Reuters) – Chinese mixed doubles gold medallist Huang Yaqiong had just stepped off the podium when her teammate, Tokyo men’s doubles silver medallist Liu Yuchen, got down on one knee and proposed to her at the Paris Olympics on Friday.
Huang and her mixed doubles partner Zheng Siwei defeated South Koreans Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun 21-8 21-11 to win the mixed doubles final at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena.
Huang, who also won mixed doubles silver with Zheng in Tokyo, appeared shocked as the crowd went wild. He smiled shyly and accepted Liu’s ring, which contained a large diamond that later sparkled up close during a press conference.
The proposal was very surprising because I had already prepared for the competition, Huang said, beaming.
“The ring fits my finger really well,” she added with a laugh.
Fans responded enthusiastically on social media to the proposal, with one writing on Weibo: “This year’s medals can now also include a diamond ring.”
Liu Yuchen did not win an Olympic gold medal, but he did beat an Olympic gold medalist, wrote another.
Liu and Huang’s engagement is not the first time a Chinese Olympian, who has only recently started competing, has been proposed to.
In Rio, diver He Zi had just won a silver medal in the women’s three-meter springboard when her boyfriend and fellow winner Qin Kai proposed to her.
During the Olympic sailing competition in Marseille earlier on Friday, French skiff sailors Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon returned to land after winning a bronze medal, only to find their partners ready to get down on one knee and propose.
