The Opening Ceremony across the Seine River left everyone enchanted. The City of Love and Light was encapsulated with song, dance, and unbridled Olympic spirit. However, it was Gianmarco Tamberi who catapulted himself into millions of hearts after he turned a horrific mistake into a sonnet for his loving wife. He had stepped into the French capital as the defending champion in the high jump and was looking forward to clinching it after having to share it with Mutaz Barshim in the Japanese capital three years ago. But it looks like fate wasn’t on his side.

On August 4, the athlete posted a heartbreaking image of himself in the hospital. “Unbelievable… This can’t be true. Yesterday, 2 hours after writing “I deserve it” on social media, I noticed a throwing fight at one side.” He stated that he might have a suspected kidney problem. The catch? It happens to be 3 days before he contests the qualifying round at the Stade de France. Even though he has been asked to postpone his travel until Monday, he leaves his fans with one promise. “I don’t know how I’ll get there, but I’ll be on that plateau and I’ll give my soul until my last jump, whatever my condition is.” Will we see the Italian fight for a spot in the French capital?

The athlete is currently in Italy, hoping to recover from this serious setback and make it to the French capital in time. “ER, TAC, ultrasound, blood work… probable kidney stone.” He expresses how he was supposed to leave for Paris on Sunday, but instead, Tamberi is helpless in bed with a 38.8 fever. “All I can do is wait and pray. I don’t deserve all this, I did everything for this Olympics, everything. I really dont deserve it.” What makes this even more heartbreaking is that this isn’t the first time an injury has held the athlete back from the Summer Games.

Back in 2016, the athlete was set to make his way to the Rio Olympics. However, mere days before leaving for the city, a serious ankle injury kept him out of contention. Dubbed the favorite back then, losing out on this opportunity was gut-wrenching. But the half-beard he often sported was now a symbol of resilience. This iconic look didn’t make an appearance at the Opening Ceremony. However, it could make a triumphant comeback when he sets foot in Paris again.

A terrible mistake led to a heartwarming ode to his wife

The world watched as the Italian contingent made its way across the Seine. Gianmarco led the brigade by taking up the important role of the flag bearer. As picturesque as that view was, no one expected what happened next. To his horror, the athlete watched his wedding ring take a refreshing dive in the river. Even though he found himself in a terrible situation, he took up the opportunity to pen a thoughtful note to his wife on Instagram.

Tamberi shared a beautiful carousel on Instagram, captioned “I’m sorry, my love, I’m so sorry. Too much water, too many kilos lost in the last few months or maybe the irrepressible enthusiasm of what we were doing.” If you’re a fan of romantic comedies, his dramatic take on the incident might let out a rogue giggle. “Probably all three things, the fact remains that I felt it slip away, I saw it fly… I followed it with my gaze until I saw it bounce inside the boat,” he continued.

The athlete followed up with his whimsical take on the unfortunate situation. “It will stay forever in the riverbed of the city of love, flown away while I tried to carry the Italian tricolor as high as possible during the opening ceremony of the most important sporting event in the world.” But if that didn’t tug at your heartstrings, he even suggested his wife could throw hers in the Seine too. Why, you may ask? “So they’ll be together forever.” Even though this unforeseen situation acts as a bump in his Paris Olympics journey, we hope Gianmarco Tamberi finds his way back to the City of Lights.