Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Gianmarco Tamberi has made headlines again, but this time for an unfortunate reason. The Italian high jumper lost his wedding ring in the Seine River during the athletes' parade at the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday.
Tamberi, who shared the gold medal with Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, was serving as Italy's male flagbearer at the ceremony. In a moment of distraction, Tamberi's wedding ring slipped off his finger and fell into the river.
In an Instagram post, he apologised to his wife Chiara Bontempi Tamberi. They have been married for 22 months. "Too much water, too many kilos lost in the last few months or maybe the irrepressible enthusiasm of what we were doing. Probably all three things, the fact remains that I felt [my ring] slip away, I saw it fly...I followed it with my gaze until I saw it bounce inside the boat," Tamberi wrote on Instagram, sharing pictures with his wife.
"A Glimmer of Hope...Unfortunately, the bounce was in the wrong direction and floating more than a thousand times in the air I saw her dive into the water like that was the only place she wanted to be. A few moments that lasted an eternity," Tamberi added.
Despite the mishap, the 32-year-old found a silver lining, suggesting that they renew their vows and get married again, with a new ring. "I love you, my love. May it be auspicious to come home with even bigger gold!!!"
Chiara Bontempi Tamberi responded to her husband's post, saying, "Only you can turn something like this into something romantic."
According to the BBC, Tamberi was waving Italy's flag alongside three-time Olympic medallist Arianna Errigo when the ring fell off, bounced off the boat and disappeared into the Seine River.
Tamberi is a favourite to win another gold medal this time when the men's high jump competition begins on August 7.
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