Congratulations to Huang Yaqiong for winning it all — an Olympic gold medal and true love. After taking home the top prize for China in badminton mixed doubles at the Paris 2024 Summer Games, her boyfriend Liu Yuchen proposed to the winner, who said yes.
Previously, Yaqiong won silver during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in mixed doubles. She once again competed in Paris alongside her partner, Zheng Siwei, while Yuchen previously competed in Tokyo alongside his partner, Li Junhui. The latter duo won silver in men’s doubles during those Olympic Games, but did not move onto the final for Paris 2024.
Olympics fans on X were quick to celebrate the happy couple on Friday.
Plus, this isn’t the first proposal in Olympics history. French women’s skiff sailors Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon received marriage proposals from their boyfriends in Paris 2024 after winning bronze in skiff sailing. Both said “yes,” though these proposals weren’t captured by NBC’s cameras. During the Rio 2016 Olympics, Chinese diver He Zi accepted a marriage proposal from her boyfriend, fellow diver Qin Kai, after she won silver in the 3-meter springboard dive.
Thanks in part to Yaqiong and Siwei’s performance, China is currently leading the Olympics in gold medals. As of the publication of this article, the country has earned 13 gold medals due to their athletes’ performances in shooting, diving, table tennis, cycling, swimming, athletics and — now — badminton. China also has seven silver medals and seven bronze medals.
When it comes to gold medals, America, France and Great Britain are all tied for second place with nine medals each. The United States has 17 silver medals and 15 bronze medals, putting them comfortably in second place. They’re followed by France, which has 11 silver medals and 11 bronze, and finally Great Britain with eight silver and eight bronze.
