‘Sorry my love’: Italy flagbearer loses wedding ring in Seine during opening ceremony

Rome: “If I really had to lose this ring, I couldn’t imagine a better place than the city of love,” Gianmarco Tamberi said after his wedding ring slipped into the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

Italian flamboyant high jumper and gold medallist Gianmarco Tamberi said he was “really, really sorry” to his wife after losing his wedding ring into the Seine River during the rainy opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Friday.

Tamberi wrote an open letter of apology on Instagram on Saturday to his wife, Chiara Bontempi. He blamed it on losing too much weight.

“Too much water, too many kilograms lost over the last few months and maybe the uncontrollable enthusiasm of what we were doing. Probably all three things,” he added.

Last month, Tamberi pretended to hide springs in his shoes when he won gold at the European Championships then jumped into the arms of Italy President Sergio Mattarella.

And when he shared gold with his good friend Mutaz Barshim at the Tokyo Games, Tamberi celebrated wildly, which drew more attention than his performance.

Tamberi, along with Errigo, had the honour of flying to Paris on the presidential plane with Mattarella, which he called “the most emotional flight of my life”.

Tamberi said he felt the ring sliding off his finger and saw it dropping as Italy cruised down the Seine on a boat with Israel and Jamaica.

“I followed it until I saw it bounce inside the boat,” he said. “But the rebound went in the wrong direction unfortunately. … But if it had to happen, if I really had to lose this ring, I couldn’t imagine a better place. It will remain forever on the riverbed in the City of Love.”

Tamberi is favoured to win another gold when the men’s high jump competition starts on 7 August.

“Hopefully this is a sign that I’ll come home with an ever bigger gold medal,” he said.

Tamberi invited his wife to throw her ring into the Seine, too.

“Then they’ll be together forever,” Tamber said, “and we’ll have another reason to renew our vows.”