She quite didn’t make her way to the podium, but either way, French track and field athlete Alice Finot was the one giving out hardware.
After she set a European record but just missed out on a medal Tuesday in the 3000-meter steeplechase, Finot went over to her partner, Bruno Martínez Bargiela, and got down on one knee to propose. But, instead of a ring, she unhooked an Olympic pin that she wore during the race and offered it to him as they embraced to the cheering of the crowd at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
Finot, 33, finished in fourth place with a time of 8:58.67, which was 5.91 seconds behind gold medalist Yavi Winfred from Bahrain, whose time of 8:52.76 set an Olympic record. Finot missed out on a bronze medal by 3.53 seconds.
‘I told myself that if I ran under nine minutes, knowing that nine is my lucky number and that we’ve been together for nine years, then I would propose,’ Finot said in the mixed zone after the race, according to the Daily Mail. ‘I don’t like doing things like everyone else. Since he hadn’t done it yet, I told myself that maybe it was up to me to do it.
‘So, I gave a pin that I ran with to my boyfriend. On it, it says: ‘Love is in Paris.’ He’s the one who always gives me strength and if I managed to get under nine minutes, that meant a lot.’
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Finot confirmed that Martínez Bargiela said yes.