Olympic athlete pens apology to wife after losing wedding ring in the Seine
An athlete competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics penned a sincere apology to his wife after he lost his wedding ring during the opening ceremony.
In a joint Instagram post, Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi shared a picture of his wedding day with his wife Chiara Bontempi as he recounted how he had lost his prized possession in the Seine River during the festivities.
"Too much water, too many kilos lost in the past few months, or maybe the uncontrollable enthusiasm of what we were doing. Probably all three things, the fact remains that I felt (the ring) slip away, I saw it fly … I followed (it) with a glance until I saw (it) bouncing inside the boat," a translation of his message read, according to the NBC Olympics website.
Despite this, the three-time Olympian high jumper found a silver lining in the incident, highlighting how he "couldn’t imagine a better place" to lose his ring.
"It will stay forever in the riverbed of the city of love, flown away while I tried to carry the Italian tricolor as high as possible during the opening ceremony of the most important sport evening in the world. If I had to invent an apology, I would never have been this imaginative," Tamberi wrote.
"I think there might be a huge poetic side to yesterday’s misdeed, and if you want, we’ll throw yours into that river, too, so they’ll be together forever, and we’ll have one more excuse to, like you’ve always asked, renew our vows and get married anew," he continued.
The 32-year-old athlete, who also served as a flag bearer for his country, hopes that what happened to him was a "good omen to return home with an even bigger gold."
In the comments section, many of his fans lauded him for his "poetically beautiful" message to his wife.
"I swear I cried too at the beauty of the message," one user wrote.
Another commented, "I'm crying, this is so sweet! If this isn't love, then what is?"
Tamberi previously earned gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021. He also won the 2021 Diamond League crown, becoming the first-ever Italian to do so, and repeated this in 2022.
The 2024 Paris Olympics opening took place on July 27 (Philippine time), kicking off with some brilliant performances from the likes of Celine Dion before capping it off with a grand lighting of the cauldron.