The warmest, fuzziest moment thus far at this summer’s Olympic Games is this video of a Brazilian women’s rugby player accepting a marriage proposal from her girlfriend of two years. Marjorie Enya, a 28-year-old manager at Deodoro Stadium, asked 25-year-old Isadora Cerullo to marry her after Australia won gold over New Zealand in the women’s rugby sevens finals on Monday night.
“As soon as I knew she was in the squad, I thought, ‘I have to make this special,’ ” Enya told the BBC. “I know rugby people are amazing and they would embrace it.”
In her on-camera proposal, Enya ties some yellow ribbon around Cerullo’s finger in lieu of a ring as her teammates cheer and goof off in celebration. A bunch of stadium management staff stands around grinning in their Rio 2016–branded shirts, holding heart-shaped balloons. Somebody yells, “She said yes!”
Cerullo was born and raised in the U.S. by Brazilian immigrant parents; she grew up in North Carolina and attended Columbia University. When Brazil decided to beef up its rugby roster a few years before the 2016 Games since it automatically qualified as the host country, Cerullo decided to put off medical school and move to Brazil to join the team. She now lives with Enya in São Paulo.
“She is the love of my life,” Enya told the BBC. “The Olympic Games can look like closure but, for me, it’s starting a new life with someone.”
This was the first Olympics to include women’s rugby, a long-awaited move that’s expected to increase interest in the sport among young girls. Enya’s sweet, simple proposal is likely to solidify rugby’s reputation as a convener of queer women around the world. With a couple as patently adorable and smitten as this one, the sport couldn’t ask for a better recruiting video.
