Italian Olympic Flagbearer Gianmarco Tamberi Loses Wedding Ring in Seine

Italian Olympic high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi issued a heartfelt apology to his wife Saturday after his wedding ring slipped off his finger while he was serving as Italy’s flagbearer on a boat on the Seine River during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

Italian athlete Gianmarco Tamberi said he felt his ring sliding off his finger, watched it bounce inside the boat into the Seine

“Too much water, too many kilos lost in the last few months or maybe the irrepressible enthusiasm of what we were doing,” Tamberi, who won gold at the Tokyo Games, wrote on Instagram in a post directed at his wife, Chiara Bontempi Tamberi.

“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, 32, said his wedding ring then bounced into the waters of the Seine. The 6-foot-3, 168-pound high jumper described it as “a few moments that lasted forever.”

“But if it really had to happen, if I really had to lose it, I couldn’t imagine a better place,” Tamberi wrote. “It will remain forever in the riverbed of the City of Love.”

Tamberi said the mishap might be a sign to renew vows and get married again. The incident could also motivate him to win more Olympic medals.

“May it be a good omen to return home with an even bigger gold!” he wrote.

Tamberi shared the gold medal with Qatari athlete Mutaz Essa Barshim during the 2020 Summer Olympics

During the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Tamberi and Qatari athlete Mutaz Essa Barshim were declared tied winners of the men’s high jump after both cleared 2.37 meters.

Tamberi and Barshim agreed to share the gold medal in a rare instance in Olympic history where the athletes of different nations agreed to share the same medal.

It was not the time to be greedy for the Civitanova Marche-born athlete. Tamberi had to take time away to recover from a career-threatening injury that ruled him out of Rio 2016. Sharing the gold made sense to him.

“After my injuries, I just wanted to come back, but now I have this gold, it’s incredible. I dreamed of this so many times,” said the Italian.

“I was told in 2016 just before Rio there was a risk I wouldn’t be able to compete anymore. It’s been a long journey.”

At the 2022 NBA Celebrity All-Star Game, Tamberi appeared on Dominique Wilkins’s team. He was the first high jump champion to appear in the Celebrity Game.