Italian Olympian Gianmarco Tamberi Dropped His Wedding Ring Into the Seine River During the 2024 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony

Losing your wedding ring is an offense that can be very difficult to explain to your partner. You’re bound to answer numerous questions (like "Where did you last have it?" or "Didn’t you notice it was loose?") and worst of all, you might risk witnessing a very disappointed spouse. However, when you’re competing in the Olympics, the circumstances may be a little different. During the opening ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris on July 26, 2024, Italian high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi was given the honorable role of flagbearer for his country. During the kickoff to the Olympic Games, as the boat sailed down the Seine River, the Olympic champion proudly waved the Italian flag while standing on the ledge of the boat. Things quickly took a turn when the world-renowned athlete watched his wedding ring slip off of his finger and into the river below.

After the loss, Tamberi crafted a poetic apology note to his wife, Chiara Bontempi Tamberi, which he posted on Instagram and added her as a collaborator. “I'm sorry my love, I'm so sorry,” Tamberi earnestly wrote. “Too much water, too many kg lost in the past few months or maybe the uncontrollable enthusiasm of what we were doing. Probably all three things, just the fact that I heard it parade, I saw it fly.... I followed her with a glance until I saw her bouncing inside the boat. A Glimmer of Hope ... But 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.”

The olympian continued, articulating how the moment he dropped the ring felt like time had stopped. "A few moments that lasted forever," he said. In his caption, Tamberi also reframed the hapless scenario from a positive lens. “But if it was meant to happen, if I'm really going to lose this faith, I couldn't imagine a better place," he expressed. "It will stay forever in the riverbed of the city of love, flown away while I tried to carry the Italian tricolor as high as possible during the opening ceremony of the most important sporting event in the world. If I had to invent an excuse I would never have been this imaginative."

To conclude his sincere note, the high jumper asked his wife to likewise drop her ring in the river. “I think there might be a huge poetic side to yesterday's misdeed, and if you want, we'll throw yours into that river, too, so they'll be together forever, and we'll have one more excuse to, like you've always asked, renew our vows and get married to new," he shared. "I love you my love ❤️May it be auspicious to come home with even bigger gold!!! 🙏🇮🇹😡💪🏿🔥."

In addition to his passionate apology letter, the world champion included a photo from the couple’s wedding reception, where Tamberi is kissing his wife's cheek. He also added a snapshot of the pair's gold wedding bands, one of Tamberi enthusiastically waving the Italian flag at the Olympics, and an AI-generated image of the athlete reaching for his fallen ring.

Tamberi received a lot of praise for his legendary comeback. “Turning a really unpleasant event into a declaration of love that doesn't get more romantic ❤️,” one person commented. The couple hasn’t shared any updates on what they'll do about the lost ring, but in the meantime, Tamberi is expected to compete in the men’s high jump event on August 7.