French Steeplechaser Alice Finot Breaks European Record, Then Proposes Marriage

It was a day Finot will never forget.

Aug 6, 2024; Paris Saint-Denis, France; Alice Finot (FRA) celebrates after placing fourth in the 3000m steeple chase during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Stade de France. / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Tuesday was a day French steeplechaser Alice Finot will never forget.

Finot competed in the women's 3000-meter steeplechase final at the Paris Olympics and broke the European record in the process. Her time of 8:58.67 set the record, but she placed fourth in the race and did not medal.

As she was celebrating her European record with her family and friends in the crowd, all of a sudden, Finot got down on one knee and proposed to her partner, Bruno Martínez Bargiela. She proposed with an Olympic pin instead of a ring, but the moment was special regardless. Her partner said yes as they hugged and cried. Finot put the pin on her partner's shirt, as if she was placing a ring on his finger.

French athlete Alice Finot broke the European steeplechase record, finishing fourth in the final and proposed after. 🥹 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/BreMAAsq2A

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 7, 2024

Finot later explained that she told herself she would propose if she ran the race in under nine minutes. She beat that time by just over a second.

"I told myself that if I ran under nine minutes, knowing that nine is my lucky number and that we’ve been together for nine years, then I would propose," Finot said, via Metro. "I don’t like doing things like everyone else. Since he hadn’t done it yet, I told myself that maybe it was up to me to do it. So, I gave a pin that I ran with to my boyfriend. On it, it says: 'Love is in Paris.'"

They aren't the first couple to get engaged at the Olympics. Huang Ya Qiong and Zheng Siwei of China won the gold in mixed doubles badminton, then Huang's boyfriend Liu Yuchen proposed to her. Love is definitely in the air in Paris.