U.S. Olympian Payton Otterdahl Proposes to Girlfriend Under the Eiffel Tower: ‘In the City of Love’
"I love you forever," the shot putter told his partner Maddy Nilles while sharing multiple snaps of himself popping the question
Payton otterdahl/instagram
Payton Otterdahl proposes to his girlfriend Maddy Nilles in Paris.Team USA shot putter Payton Otterdahl just got down on one knee in Paris!
On Sunday, Aug. 4, Otterdahl, 28, shared some sweet photos on Instagram showing him proposing to his girlfriend Maddy Nilles while touring the city amid the 2024 Olympic Games.
"Meanwhile, in the City of Love... I love you forever, Maddy Nilles! @maddynilles27 ❤️," the athlete captioned the post.
One photo showed Otterdahl presenting Nilles with a ring box while in front of the Eiffel Tower, as she smiled and held onto his arm.
Related: All the Couples Who Are Both Competing at the Paris Olympics [PHOTOS]
The couple kissed in another image, as Nilles held onto her partner's face. A third shot showed her beaming as he gave her the ring, and a fourth and final image showed Otterdahl dipping his wife-to-be while holding onto her leg and kissing her in front of the historic landmark.
The couple both wore casual outfits in the pictures, with Otterdahl donning a purple T-shirt, black shorts and a backwards baseball cap, while Nilles wore a white tank top and patterned skirt.
Sharing the post on her Instagram Stories, Nilles wrote, "Je vous aime (I LOVE YOU)."
The proposal came after Otterdahl came fourth in the shot put with 22.03 meters on Saturday, while Team USA's Ryan Crouser won a historic third-straight Olympic gold medal with a distance of 22.90 meters, and Joe Kovacs nabbed the silver with 22.15 meters.
BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty
Payton Otterdahl competes in the men's shot put final at the 2024 Olympic Games at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 3, 2024.The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
It came close to a "U.S. 1-2-3 sweep," Team USA wrote on its website, but Otterdahl ended up being taken over by Jamaica's Rajindra Campbell, who tied with Kovacs' score.
Per the USA Track & Field site, Kovacs earned the silver based on a better secondary mark, while Campbell's bronze marked Jamaica's first-ever shot put medal.
“That’s just the reality of fourth place – it doesn’t feel good,” Otterdahl said, per Team USA, adding, "I’m not pleased with the performance, but it is what it is."
“I wish we could have made it a sweep – we were close, but not close enough,” he added.
Getty
Huang Ya Qiong gets engaged at the 2024 Paris OlympicsNever miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Otterdahl isn't the only athlete to pop the question at the Paris Olympics, with Chinese badminton player Huang Ya Qiong, 30, being surprised with a ring by her boyfriend and fellow Olympic teammate Liu Yuchen, 29.
The proposal came after Huang and her doubles partner Zheng Siwei, 27, won the gold medal in the badminton mixed doubles final against South Korean team Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun on Thursday, Aug. 2.
Per the Olympics website, Huang said she “cannot describe the feeling I have because I am happy, happy, happy” after the engagement.
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. And sign up for Going for Gold, our Olympics newsletter, to get the biggest stories from the Games delivered straight to your inbox. Watch the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, beginning July 26, on NBC and Peacock.
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.
