Paris Olympics star sends grovelling apology after losing wedding ring in opening ceremony

Italian athlete Gianmarco Tamberi has posted a grovelling apology to his wife after losing his wedding ring during the Paris Olympics opening ceremony. The high jump star was one of Italy’s torchbearers during the event on the river Seine.

Tamberi won gold at the 2021-held Games in Tokyo. The 32-year-old was given the opportunity to carry the Olympic torch for Italy during the opening ceremony but it did not go entirely to plan.

In an emotional Instagram message, he revealed that he felt the ring slipping from his finger during the procession. It fell from his hand and bounced off the floor of Italy’s boat, before it ricocheted into the river Seine.

He promised wife Chiara that the ring would forever sit on the river bed in the ‘City of Love’ - a nickname given to Paris.

“I'm sorry my love, I'm terribly sorry,” wrote Tamberi.

“Too much water, too many kilos lost in the last few months or perhaps the uncontainable enthusiasm of what we were doing. Probably all three, the fact remains that I heard it slip away, I saw it fly.... I followed it with my eyes until I saw it bounce inside the boat.

“A tinkle of hope... But unfortunately the bounce was in the wrong direction and floating more than a thousand times in the air I saw it dive into the water as if that was the only place it wanted to be.

“A few moments that lasted forever.

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“But if it really had to happen, if I really had to lose this faith, I couldn't imagine a better place. It will remain forever in the riverbed of the city of love, flown away while I was trying to carry the Italian tricolor as high as possible during the opening ceremony of the most important sporting event in the world. If I had to make up an excuse I would never have been able to be so imaginative.

“I think there could 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 have always asked me, renew our promises and get married again.”

Hoping to return home with another gold medal, he concluded: “I love you my love. May it be a good omen for returning home with an even bigger gold!!!”