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The Olympics proving that Paris is the city of love

The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Casper Libero chapter.

The 2024 Olympics are over and many impressive world records were broken during the games, but today we are going to talk about one specific record that happened off the courts.… 

Tony Estanguet, Paris 2024 organizing committee president, mentioned in his speech at the closing ceremony how this edition holds the record for most marriage proposals!

“Here in Paris we have broken a new record that is very close to our hearts: the most marriage proposals ever at an Olympic games”, said the Parisian.

To celebrate it, Her Campus brings to you 6 Olympics love stories to prove paris is truly the city of love!

Armand Duplantis & Desiré Inglander

Armand “Mondo” Duplantis is a pole vaulter competing for Sweden and Desiré Inglander is a Swedish social media influencer. They both started to date back in 2020, quickly becoming the “it couple” in the sports scene. 

In Paris 2024, Duplantis, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Champion, was aiming not only for a gold medal, but also to break the world record. After succeeding in all of his goals, Mondo ran to the stands and celebrated with Desiré in one of the cutest moments at the Olympics! A truly unforgettable moment for the Swedes.

Tara Davis & Hunter WoodHall

Tara Davis is a Women’s long jump Olympic athlete and Hunter WoodHall is a track and field paralympic medalist. The Americans met in 2017 and they have been together ever since. 

After winning the gold medal, Tara went running to hug her husband, who was cheering her the entire time in a “Team Tara” T-shirt. 

Since he’s still yet to compete (the paralympics only start on august 28th), maybe we will see more cute scenes from this couple in Paris!

Katerina Siniakova & Thomas Machac

Czech tennis players Katerina Siniakova and Thomas Machac dated from 2020 to 2024, ending their relationship just weeks before the Olympics. Despite no longer being together, the couple were still willing to compete as partners in the mixed doubles event. After each match, they would often celebrate their victories with an intimate hug, which is when fans began to question their relationship. During the gold medal match, things got a little more heated. After beating the Chinese doubles team in the final, the Czech champions celebrated their victory with a kiss. Later, at the press conference, a journalist asked if they were back together, to which the couple replied, “It’s top secret. We like to keep you a little confused.” Perhaps winning the Olympics in the world’s most romantic city could restore their love…

Will you marry me?

As Tony Estanguet mentioned in his speech, there were also many marriage proposals in Paris. Truly dreamlike moments that the Olympic athletes and their partners will always remember. Henrique Honorato, a volleyball player, and Alice Gomes, a trampoline gymnast, are both sparring partners for the Brazilian team and they were able to experience their first Olympics together. On the evening of August 8, the couple posted a video of Honorato proposing to Alice under the Eiffel Tower. Isn’t that so romantic?

Payton Otterdahl, an American shot putter, also proposed to his girlfriend, Maddy Niles, in the same romantic place, but this time in daylight.

The next couple is also from Brazil. Almir Junior is a track and field athlete, competing in the men’s long jump and triple jump. He proposed to his girlfriend, a social media influencer named Talita Ramos, right after his finals. He didn’t win a shiny medal, but his girl did get a shiny ring on her left hand!

Huang Yaqiong and Liu Yuchen

The Chinese badminton player Huang Yaqiong also received a surprise from her partner Liu Yuchen. She won the mixed doubles final with Zheng Siwei, and after the podium ceremony, Liu proposed to Huang in front of everyone. On Instagram, the Olympic champion wrote, “I said yes. Thank you for making my day.”

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The article above was edited by Giovanna Rodrigues. Liked this type of content? Check out Her Campus Cásper Líbero for more!

Giovanna Garcia

Casper Libero '26

hi! i´m a journalism student who loves pop culture and sports :)