French track and field athlete Alice Finot celebrated breaking a record at the 2024 Paris Olympics in an unexpected way — with a proposal!
On Aug. 6, Finot competed in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase event with 14 other athletes. The 33-year-old, who is a first-time Olympian this summer, finished fourth in the race, having missed the podium by just three seconds.
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Although she didn’t secure a medal, she still earned a spot in the record books. Finot crossed the finish line with a time of 8:58.67, breaking the European steeplechase record.
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After the race, Finot surprised her boyfriend by lowering to one knee and proposing to him. The NBC Olympics & Paralympics X account posted a clip of the grand romantic gesture.
In the video, Finot holds up what appears to be a pin as her boyfriend wipes tears away from his eyes. He accepts her proposal and the two sweetly embrace as the crowd applauds.
Finot fastens the pin to her now-fiancé’s shirt before the two share a kiss.
X users congratulated the happy couple in the comments.
“Wow what a day for Alice, congrats!” one said.
Another wrote, “Congrats to her and her record!”
The X account for Peacock commented, “This is officially the best day of her life.”
Finot is not the first Olympian during the Summer Games to profess her love after an event.
China badminton player Huang Yaqiong won a gold medal with her mixed doubles partner, Zheng Siwei, on Aug. 2 minutes before her boyfriend popped the question.
Liu Yuchen, who is a member of China’s Olympic badminton team as well, knelt on one knee after Huang left the podium and asked her to marry him.
Images from the proposal show Liu smiling as a tearful Huang covered her mouth in shock.
She accepted and later showed off her sparkling engagement ring to photographers.
The gold medalist revealed, through an interpreter, that she didn’t have any inkling that Liu would propose to her, The Associated Press reported.
“For me, the proposal is very surprising because I have been preparing for the game,” Huang shared. “Today I am an Olympic champion and I got proposed (to), so that’s something I didn’t expect.”
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