Rio de Janeiro, Aug 16: China's ace woman diver He Zi had just collected her silver medal at the Rio Olympics but her boyfriend and teammate Qin Kai, in front of a global TV audience, sprang a surprise by going down on one knee and proposing with a diamond ring, marking the second marriage proposal at the ongoing Games.
Just moments after receiving her silver medal in Sunday's 3-meter springboard event, 25-year-old He was asked to take a very different kind of plunge by Qin, a fellow Olympic diver.
Qin, 30, who bent low on one knee by the podium before offering up a box containing a diamond engagement ring.
He did not appear to be expecting a proposal straight after winning a silver medal.
"We've been dating for over six years," He told reporters.
"I didn't know that he would propose today, and I didn't expect that I would marry myself out so early," an overwhelmed He said while wiping tears from her eyes.
"He (Qin) said a lot of things there at the podium. He made a lot of promises, but the thing that has touched me the most is that I think this is the guy I can trust for the rest of my life."
Qin, a bronze medalist in the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard, also gave his wife-to-be a red rose encased in glass.
It's the second engagement to take place at a Rio Games venue, following that of Brazilian rugby player Isadora Cerullo and girlfriend Marjorie Enya last Monday.
But there was no ring on that occasion, as Enya used a gold ribbon to tie around Cerullo's finger.
"The Olympic Games can look like closure but, for me, it's starting a new life with someone," Enya told the BBC. "I wanted to show people that love wins."
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