Gold, silver, bronze and … diamond? More than one athlete received a marriage proposal shortly after winning big at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and fans aren’t sure how they feel about it.
Huang Yaqiong had a gold medal around her neck when Liu Yuchen, a fellow member of China’s Olympic badminton team, presented her with flowers, pulled a ring box out of his pocket and got down on one knee in front of a crowd of cheering fans. Yaqiong was still riding high from her and mixed doubles partner Zheng Siwe’s defeat of South Korea’s Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun when she accepted the marriage proposal.
Yaqiong later said via an interpreter that the proposal was “very surprising” to her as she “had been preparing for the match.” She shared photos of the unexpected moment via Instagram and thanked her now-fiancé for “making [her] day.” Still, some fans weren’t impressed with Yuhen’s timing.
“It’s the most selfish thing ever. Proposing in a moment where you’re supposed to be celebrating your partner,” one X user wrote. “You’re minimizing their moment and making it about yourself instead. Lazy and Selfish. You should plan a separate special event for the sole purpose of proposing.”
Others said they would have reacted very differently than Yaqiong if they’d been proposed to on the heels of a big achievement.
“Proposing to me after I win gold?? Baby you’ll never hear from me again! Had to make it about you,” one fan wrote.
Another quipped, “If my boyfriend ever did this i’m sucker punching him and getting on the podium.”
Not everyone agreed, however, that the proposal overshadowed Yaqiong’s victory.
“I thought proposals were supposed to happen at the highlights of ur life? Whether he creates the highlight or it’s already there wouldn’t u want to feel like ‘this is the best day ever’ [type of] vibe? How is it about him when the proposal is for u?” one X user argued.
Another fan pointed out that “everyone is different” and it shouldn’t be assumed that Yaqiong didn’t appreciate the circumstances of the proposal.
“It’s absurd to automatically assume that someone wouldn’t be aware of what their partner would appreciate in terms of a proposal or never [had] a conversation about it,” the fan wrote.
Yaqiong and Yuchen weren’t the only ones to spark discourse with an Olympics season proposal this year. American swimmer Lilly King’s longtime boyfriend, James Wells, popped the question moments after she qualified for the Games in June.
“I was honestly just so confused why he was on deck,” King subsequently told Today of the life-changing moment. “I was like, ‘Why are you wearing your nice clothes?’ Like, what’s going on? And then I realized, ‘Oh, I know what’s going on!’”
While Wells said he thought it “would be a really special moment” to propose because King was surrounded by friends in a stadium located in her home state, he received some criticism online.
“Yes, because a woman excelling at her sport needs to be eclipsed by a man … proposing. Shocking. 🚩,” one X user wrote at the time.
“I really hate how men don’t know when to propose,” another quipped.
The debate about Olympic proposals is nothing new. At the Rio 2016 Olympics, China’s He Zi received a marriage proposal from fellow athlete Qin Kai shortly after taking silver in the women’s 3m springboard diving event. Author Sunny Singh told the BBC at the time that Kai’s actions were a “d—k move” and a “control mechanism.”
“[It’s] a way of saying ‘You may just have won an Olympic medal, or be a CEO or have designed a spacecraft, but really the most important thing is you’re my wife,’” Singh continued. “Imagine if it was someone like Michael Phelps receiving a medal and a woman came up and proposed — people would laugh at her. When men experience success, women are expected to stand aside and cheer from the background.”
Whether you see Olympic proposals as sweet romantic gestures or threats to feminism, one thing seems certain: If you’re thinking of proposing to an Olympian and don’t want to stir up international controversy, consider making a reservation at a nice restaurant instead.
