Men’s Olympic wedding proposals slammed for stealing ‘spotlight’ from medal-winning women: ‘Had to make it about you’

This is not what they meant by Olympic rings.

Olympian Liu Yuchen proposed to his girlfriend and fellow Chinese badminton player Huang Yaqiong after she scored a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics this month — but the tender moment created tension online, where social media critics slammed him for stealing her spotlight.

In a video of the proposal, Yaqiong proudly displayed her glittering gold medal around her neck, as Yuchen knelt to the ground and popped the question, asking, “I’ll love you forever! Will you marry me?” After slipping the ring onto her finger, he kissed her left hand and the lovebirds posed for photos as the crowd cheered.

But not everyone seemed as thrilled as Yaqiong — who, in a statement to reporters said it was “very surprising” — as the clip went viral post-proposal.

“If my boyfriend ever did this i’m sucker punching him and getting on the podium,” criticized one user on X.

“Proposing to me after I win gold?? Baby you’ll never hear from me again! Had to make it about you,” snarked another.

“Men will always want the spotlight. That’s her moment then comes a man,” commented an indignant observer.

But on Instagram, Yaqiong thanked her fiance for “making my day,” gushing to reporters that “the ring fits my finger really well.”

The Olympian isn’t the only athlete scoring a ring in the City of Love.

Team USA shot put competitor Payton Otterdahl proposed to his girlfriend, Maddy Nilles, in front of the Eiffel Tower, while American gold medalist, Olympic rower Justin Best, popped the question while on live television.

On Monday during an interview with the Today Show, he dropped to one knee to ask for his girlfriend’s, Lainey Duncan, hand in marriage.

“I knew you were special — it was the first date. I said to you, ‘I wanted to go to the Olympics,’ and you, without question, said ‘Yeah, absolutely. Go for it,’” he said, per Today.

Calling her the love of his life, he asked her “the easiest question”: “Will you marry me?”

“I am just as nervous as I was lining up for the start line,” Best, who scored Team USA’s first gold in men’s four rowing since 1960, told Today after the proposal. “I don’t know — if I had a heart rate monitor on, it might be like 130 beats per minute.”

He added: “I got the gold and the girl — and she got the diamond!”