 "Huang Yaqiong (left) displays the diamond ring that fellow Chinese shuttler Liu Yuchen put on her finger after proposing marriage to her. Reuters")
Huang Yaqiong was on top of the world after winning badminton mixed doubles gold with Zheng Siwei in the Paris Olympics on Friday, the Chinese pair beating South Korea’s Kim Wonho and Jeong Naeun to the title.
Paris Olympics: News, schedule, medals tally and moreFor Yaqiong, however, the gold medal wouldn’t be the only highlight of the day as she was in for a surprise of a lifetime right after her event.
The mixed doubles medal ceremony had just concluded when fellow Chinese shuttler Liu Yuchen, who had won silver in men’s doubles in Tokyo 2020 and had also competed in the Paris Games, got down on one knee and proposed marriage to her.
The 30-year-old, still holding the bouquet of flowers that she received along with her medal, promptly said yes with tears of joy in her eyes.
The proposal getting featured on the giant screen at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris, drawing a loud cheer from the crowd.
Watch the heartwarming moment here:
Huang and her mixed doubles partner Siwei demolished South Korea’s Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun 21-8 21-11 to win the mixed doubles final.
Huang, who also won a mixed doubles silver in Tokyo with Zheng, looked shocked as spectators went wild, before smiling shyly and accepting Liu’s ring, containing a sizeable diamond which sparkled up close later during a press conference.
“The proposal was very surprising because I’d been preparing for the game,” said a glowing Huang.
“The ring fits my finger really well,” she added, with a laugh.
Fans took to social media to gush about the proposal, with one writing on Weibo: “This year’s medal count can now include a diamond ring.”
“Liu Yuchen didn’t win the Olympic gold medal but he did win over an Olympic gold medallist,” another wrote.
Liu’s and Huang’s engagement is not the first time a Chinese Olympian has been proposed to, still fresh from the fight.
In Rio, diver He Zi had just received a silver medal for the women’s three-metre springboard when her boyfriend and fellow medalled diver Qin Kai asked her to marry him.
In the Olympic sailing competition in Marseille earlier on Friday, French women’s skiff sailors Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon returned ashore from winning a bronze medal to find their respective partners waiting to go down on one knee and propose.
With inputs from Reuters