Blame it on Rio: love conquers all at the Olympic Village
Public proposals of marriage have been de rigueur at Rio 2016
Draped in Old Glory, Will Claye asks for Queen Harrison's hand in marriage at the Olympic Stadium (Photo: Getty Images/Shaun Botterill)
Although official records aren't kept, it seems a fair bet that Rio 2016 has already broken a record for public marriage proposals. We've even had a Buddhist wedding in the athletes' village.
US triple jumper Will Claye chose the most public platform of them all to ask girlfriend Queen Harrison to marry him: the Olympic Stadium, venue for the blue riband athletics events of Rio 2016.
Queen Harrison and Will Claye were interviewed together on NBC's Today Show (Photo: Getty Images/Harry How)
The very same day, British race walker Tom Boswoth used a scarcely less public stage, Copacabana beach, to ask his boyfriend to marry him. He shared the special moment on Twitter.
On Monday (15 August), Rio 2016 drove another Briton into a romantic frenzy: Dean Wyatt Golding held up a sign to his gold-medal winning girlfriend Charlotte Dujardin reading "Can we get married now?" The equestrian said yes.
Dujardin and Valegro retain dressage gold for Great Britain
Dean Wyatt Golding and fiancée Charlotte Dujardin​ (Photo: Getty Images/David Rogers)
The wedding craze began on 8 August at the end of the rugby sevens competiton in Deodoro Stadium. Volunteer Majorie Enya rushed onto the pitch after the final match to ask girlfriend Isadora Cerullo, who plays for the Brazilian team, to marry her. Again, she said yes. As far as we know, no-one has been turned down at Rio 2016.
A couple of days later, Cupid was at work again in the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre. Qin Kai, bronze medallist on the 3m springboard, kneeled down in front of girlfriend and team-mate He Zi as she stood on the podium receiving her own silver medal.
Finally, one couple have moved beyond the proposal stage during the Games. Volleyball player Yael Castiglione, a member of the Argentinian national side, sealed the knot with a former Brazilian player, Marcus Eloe, at a Buddhist ceremony in the athletes' village last week. The couple were married in a civil service in Buenos Aires earlier this year.
The union of Yael Castiglione and Marcus Eloe was blessed by a Buddhist priest in the athletes' village
With three days still to go and with the Games now reaching their final climax, few people who bet against more happy couples pledging their troth at Rio 2016.
