Italian Flagbearers Arianna Errigo and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy take a selfie aboard a boat in the floating parade on the river Seine during the opening ceremony, (right) Tamberi and his wife Chiara Bontempi pose with their wedding rings. (Reuters/Gianmarco Tamberi on Instagram)
Gianmarco Tamberi can’t resist to make the headlines at the Olympics. At Tokyo 2020, the Italian high jumper had made news after sharing the gold medal with his Qatari counterpart Mutaz Essa Barshim.
Three years later in Paris, Tamberi – the male flagbearer for Italy at the opening ceremony – has become the talk of the town after he lost his wedding ring in the Seine river during the athletes parade on Friday.
Tamberi took to his social media to break the tragic news to his wife and others.
“Too much water, too many kilos lost in the last few months or maybe the irrepressible enthusiasm of what we were doing. Probably all three things, the fact remains that I felt [my ring] slip away, I saw it fly…. I followed it with my gaze until I saw it bounce inside the boat,” Tamberi posted on his Instagram with a collection of photos, one of which included an iconic photoshopped Lord of the Rings reference.
Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy celebrate after winning gold at Tokyo 2020. (Reuters)
A half-apology followed, “If it had to happen, if I had to lose this ring, I couldn’t imagine a better place. It will remain forever in the riverbed of the city of love, flown away as I tried to carry the Italian flag as high as possible during the opening ceremony of the most important sporting event in the world. If I had to invent an excuse, I could never have been so imaginative.
“I think there may be a huge poetic side behind yesterday’s misdeed and if you want we will throw yours into that river too so that they will be together forever and we will have one more excuse to, as you always asked me, renew our vows and marry again,” he added.
Responding to the post, Tamberi’s wife Chiara Bontempi wrote in a comment, “Only you can turn something like this into something romantic.”
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Tamberi, the reigning high jump champion, will be in action on August 7, which is when the men’s qualification round featuring 32 high jumpers will take place.
