Waving the National Flag... 'Usain Hyuk's Rival' Tamberi Becomes the Romantic of the Century [Paris Olympics]

Ring Lost While Waving National Flag at Shipboard Opening Ceremony in Bad Weather
"If I Have to Lose My Wedding Ring, Paris Is the Best Place"

Gianmarco Tamberi (32) of Italy, considered a 'rival' to Woo Sang-hyeok (Yongin City Hall) in the men's high jump event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, lost his wedding ring while waving the national flag during the opening ceremony.

On the 26th (local time), at the Paris Olympic opening ceremony held along the Seine River in Paris, France, Tamberi was vigorously waving the Italian flag on a boat carrying the Italian delegation when he accidentally dropped his wedding ring. The ring slipped off Tamberi's finger, hit the edge of the boat, bounced, and fell into the Seine River. At the time, Tamberi, along with fencer Arianna Errigo, was the flag bearer for the Italian delegation, waving a large national flag left and right despite the heavy rain pouring down.

Photo of Tamberi parodying the movie 'The Lord of the Rings' [Image source=Capture from Gianmarco Tamberi's Instagram, Yonhap News]

Witnessing this, his teammates teased him with playful jokes, asking, "What will you say to your wife?" However, Tamberi apologized to his wife on social media and promised to win a gold medal in place of the lost ring.

On the 27th, a day after the incident, Tamberi apologized to his wife Chiara Bontempi via Instagram. He began his post with "I'm sorry, my love, truly sorry," and explained, "The loss of my wedding ring was due to a combination of factors including weight loss from intense training over the past few months, bad weather, and the passion of being a flag bearer at the opening ceremony." He added, "My eyes followed the ring as it bounced off the boat, and I had to watch it fall into the river," confessing that the moment felt like it would last forever.

On the 26th (local time), at the Paris Olympic opening ceremony held around the Seine River, Italian high jumper Tamberi is waving the national flag. [Image source=Captured from Gianmarco Tamberi's Instagram, Yonhap News]

Nevertheless, he romantically said, "If I had to lose my wedding ring, I can't imagine a better place than Paris, the city of love," and added, "If you want, I will throw your ring into the river too so we can be together forever. It seems like a good excuse to get married again, just as you always asked me." Finally, Tamberi promised his wife that losing the wedding ring might be a good omen and vowed, "I will come home with a bigger gold (gold medal)."

Tamberi is considered a favorite to win the men's high jump at the Paris Olympics alongside Korea's Woo Sang-hyeok, Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar), JuVaughn Harrison (USA), and Hamish Kerr (New Zealand). He won the gold medal by tying for first place (2.37m) with Barshim at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021.