Olympic champion swimmer Lilly King got a sweet surprise this week after she qualified for her third straight games, ensuring her trip to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
On Thursday, the 27-year-old Team USA Swimmer competed in the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Indianapolis, and after qualifying for her second event, she got a different kind of gold, NBC Chicago reported.
Stepping out of the pool, King was greeted by her boyfriend, former Indiana swimmer James Wells, who got down on one knee and proposed.
After Lilly King qualified for her second race for the Paris Olympics, her fiancé gave her a ring of her own. 💍 #SwimTrials24 pic.twitter.com/UgnfeyJYgO
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) June 21, 2024
“It’s been really incredible for me to be able to watch you over the last four years both in and out of the pool and just to see you grow has been so awesome,” Wells told his girlfriend.
“It has been awesome, and I’m very excited to see where this goes from here on. So, I was wondering, Lilly Camille King, will you marry me?” he added.
Clearly overjoyed and without a second of hesitation, King responded, “Yes! Yes!”
Wells stood up and the two embraced and kissed with everyone close to them cheering and clapping.
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On Friday, speaking to the “Today” show, King said the proposal was so special and unexpected.
“I was honestly so confused he was on deck. After that I was like, ‘Why are you wearing your nice clothes? What’s going on?’ Then I realized I was like, ‘Oh, I know what’s going on,’” King said.
“I was expecting it more after the Games because we’re going to go frolic around Europe after that,” she added. “But last night, I was not expecting it at all.”
“It was already an unbelievable week to start off with. Making the Olympic team obviously could not be more special, and now getting married!” King continued. “So it was great. And just being able to do it in front of my friends and loved ones, my family’s all here and all of my favorite people are here this week. It’s really special.”
King started off the week qualifying for the Summer Games after she won the 100-meter breaststroke at the swimming trials, and on Thursday, she qualified again after finishing second behind Kate Douglass in the 200-meter breaststroke, the New York Post noted.
This summer, the champion swimmer will have a chance to add to her Olympic medal collection after already wining five Olympic medals in her career — two gold, two silver, and one bronze, NBC noted.
