- Saturday, November 23, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
ARGENTINIAN fencer Maria Belen Perez Maurice is competing in her third Olympics and she did witness a sweet moment despite getting eliminated from the women’s sabre event in the very first round at the ongoing Tokyo Games.
The 36-year-old soon got a marriage proposal from her longtime partner and coach Lucas Guillermo Saucedo and this time, she didn’t disappoint him.
Moments after Maurice lost her bout, Saucedo gave her a handwritten sign that read @Will you marry me? Please,” Reuters reported.
It was the second attempt in 11 years by Saucedo, who is with Maurice for 17 years now. In 2010, his proposal had failed, but not this time, the report added.
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“I forget everything, you know,” the world No. 27 said, after her 12-15 loss to Hungary’s Anna Marton at the Makuhari Messe Hall outside Tokyo.
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“I said yes, of course,” Maurice, who won the bronze medal at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, said with a smile.
According to Saucedo, he had asked an Olympic volunteer at the venue for a piece of paper to write his proposal after deciding to have a try once again. The volunteer first refused but agreed after Saucedo offered to give him an Olympic pin in exchange.
The couple will not be able to fly out of Tokyo immediately because of Covid-19 restrictions. They hope to celebrate once they return to their native Buenos Aires this week.
Saucedo’s proposal came as Maurice was giving a television interview following her loss, holding a sign for the camera to see. When the fencer found it, she turned around and then Saucedo got down on one knee. The two then embraced and hugged and kissed.
It is not that the Olympics podium witnessed a marriage proposal. At the Rio Games in 2016, Chinese bronze-winning diver Qin Kai proposed to fellow diver He Zi during the medal-awarding ceremony.
Qin went down on one knee in front of a global audience and produced an engagement ring for He, who was then her girlfriend for six years. The Chinese had also said yes.
