The Paris 2024 Olympics have been full of unforgettable moments, but perhaps none more personal than what unfolded at La Chapelle Arena. Chinese badminton star Liu Yuchen proposed to his girlfriend, fellow Olympian Huang Ya Qiong, moments after she clinched a gold medal. Social media is buzzing with mixed reactions.
Huang Ya Qiong and her partner Zheng Siwei triumphed in the mixed doubles final against South Korea’s Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Their gold medal win was a sweet comeback after getting silver in Tokyo in 2020. Fans and teammates were losing it with excitement over their flawless victory.
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The final and defining match on August 2 was something to behold.
Huang and Zheng were in perfect sync, dominating the court and not losing a single game in the whole tournament. They breezed through the quarterfinals and ended with a perfect 6-0 record. They really could not be stopped.
But the real kicker? As Huang and Zheng were soaking in their win, Liu Yuchen made his move. He walked onto the court, got down on one knee, and proposed.
The crowd went wild as Liu slipped the ring on her finger — a double win for the happy couple!
Huang Ya Qiong was totally caught off guard. “I cannot describe the feeling I have because I am happy, happy, happy,” she told the official Olympics site.
She’d been all about her training and didn’t see this coming at all. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster.
Naturally, social media had a lot to say about the grand proposal — not all of which was kind and supportive, however.
Platforms like Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) exploded with reactions. Some people were all for the romance, while others thought Liu’s timing was way off. The debate quickly turned into a hot topic online.
A lot of fans thought Liu could’ve picked a better moment.
One Reddit user said, “I’m gonna sound bitter and mean (i’m so ready for the downvote but idc) but it’s a no for me. It’s her moment, her gold medal. Let her have it and THEN propose later.” Many agreed, feeling the proposal overshadowed Huang’s epic win.
Comparisons started flying.
“This is as bad as proposing at someone’s wedding for me. If they break up down the road she’ll forever remember her gold medal tying with this proposal,” another Reddit user pointed out. Yikes.
Another person noted that the proposal stole the thunder of her professional win. “I absolutely hate it. She trained extremely hard for this gold medal moment and all people are talking about is the proposal,” they wrote.
The whole thing sparked a serious discussion about the right time for big personal announcements.
One X-user shared, “Happy for them, but could he not have let the day she won Olympic gold been just about her? This trend of men proposing on days of massive achievement for women; graduation ceremony etc – really puts me off. The day won’t be exclusively hers again.”
One X-user criticized the proposal of being lazy.
“Men love the Olympic proposal because they’re very lazy and like to piggyback off of other things instead of taking time to plan out and giving the woman two separate moments to enjoy and two separate times to be congratulated,” they penned.
