Paris 2024 Olympics: Argentina's Pablo Simonet proposes to Maria Campoy at the Olympic Village
Even before the Olympic Games Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony, a pair of Argentine athletes already have a great reason to celebrate. In one of the final moments of tranquility in the Olympic Village before the Games begin, Pablo Simonet, a player for the men's national handball team, proposed to marry Maria Campoy, a member of the Argentina women's hockey team.
Simonet and Campoy have been a romantic couple since 2015, already having shared the Olympic experience together in Rio 2016. Eight years after their first Games together, the City of Love was the ideal setting to take the next step.
After a group photo was taken of the two teams together, Simonet went down on one knee and presented the ring to Campoy. Amidst her shock, she accepted his proposal as their teammates cheered in the background.
It was the perfect timing for the romantic gesture as the two national teams secured their trip to Paris just minutes apart at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. Their respective squads were competing 130km apart; Simonet was in Viña del Mar, while Campoy was competing in Ñuñoa.
When Campoy returned to the locker room after celebrating the intense victory in the final against the United States, she grabbed her cell phone and saw a message from Simonet informing her that the handball team had also secured gold and the Olympic quota.
"[Pablo] left me a message when he entered the locker room. I didn't know anything and it was doubly exciting," Campoy told Olympics.com. "I knew that he had a very tough game, just like us, and finding out that they were also champions was spectacular."
Paris 2024 could also be the Olympic farewell for Campoy, who did not participate in Tokyo 2020, where Argentina took home the silver medal, but returned to Las Leonas for one last adventure.
"Obviously, the doors were open, but I was living my life [in Spain]," said Campoy. "But after the call, I didn't hesitate. I talked it over with Pablo and I told him, 'I want to end my career in the best way possible'."
The marriage proposal was a heartwarming way to start Paris 2024.