Image: gianmarcotamberi on Instagram
Italian high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi has offered a heartfelt apology to his wife after misplacing his wedding ring during the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
The 32-year-old world champion was waving the Italian flag as the boat carrying the athletes floated down the River Seine when the ring slipped off his finger.
"I'm sorry my love, I'm so sorry," he wrote on Instagram in a post addressed to his wife, Chiara Bontempi Tamberi.
The athlete attributed the mishap to "losing too many kilos" and "irrepressible enthusiasm."
"If it had to happen, if I had to lose this ring, I couldn't imagine a better place," he wrote, adding that the ring will now "remain forever in the riverbed of the city of love".
He described the bad luck as "poetic" and suggested that they also toss Chiara's ring into the river.
"[Then] they will be together forever and we will have one more excuse to renew our vows and marry again," he said.
"Only you could turn this into something romantic," Chiara commented on her husband's apology.
The couple has been married since September 2022.
Tamberi was waving Italy's flag with three-time Olympic medalist Arianna Errigo when the ring slipped off, bounced off the boat, and vanished into the river.