Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

PIX: It's love-all for Chinese shuttlers at Paris Games!

August 03, 2024 00:12 IST

IMAGE: China's Liu Yuchen proposes to fellow badminton player Huang Yaqiong at the Paris Olympics on Friday. Photographs: Ann Wang/Reuters

Chinese mixed doubles gold medallist Huang Yaqiong had just stepped off the podium when her teammate, men's doubles Tokyo silver medallist Liu Yuchen, got down on one knee and proposed at the Paris Olympics on Friday.

 

Huang and her mixed doubles partner Zheng Siwei demolished South Korea's Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun 21-8, 21-11 to win the badminton mixed doubles final at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena.

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 saying 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 added.

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.

Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.