An unexpected proposal: Olympics start off with a bang for Pablo Simonet and Maria Campoy

25 Jul. 2024

An unexpected proposal: Olympics start off with a bang for Pablo Simonet and Maria Campoy

A normal evening in the Olympic Village for Argentina turned out to be a reason to celebrate even before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games threw off, as Pablo Simonet, the men’s handball team left back, had a surprise for his girlfriend, field hockey player Maria Campoy.

During a team photo, with over 50 Olympians present, Simonet left the group, took a few steps ahead, went on his knee and proposed to Maria, in the City of Love, not on the famous Pont des Artes, the Love Lock Bridge, but in the Olympic Village, in front of his brother and dozens of other teammates.

“I wanted to choose Paris because it was the city where we met, when I was playing in France, in Ivry, so I thought it was the best place to do it, with the Olympic Games, it was the best moment. When we were both selected for our teams, I knew it was the place to do it,” says Simonet.

The pair has been together for almost a decade now and Paris always had a special place in their hearts. Simonet and Campoy have also represented Argentina in their respective disciplines at Rio 2016, while the field hockey player decided to return to the Olympic Games after missing out at Tokyo 2020, where Argentina women’s team secured the silver medal.

“I had some help from my brother, Diego, and I knew that it was an evening when we had a dinner with all the Argentinian athletes here, in the Olympic Village. So when I knew we had to take a photo together, this is how the idea came into my head, to drop on my knees and ask her to be my wife. It was beautiful, because it was surprising for everyone, nobody knew outside of Diego and two other of my teammates, Pedro and James,” adds Simonet.

The idea hatched into Simonet’s mind since November, when both teams – the men’s handball side and the women’s field hockey team - secured the ticket to Paris via the Pan American Games, in the same day, some 100 kilometres apart in Chile.

“We had some help from Julia, from the Argentinian delegation, who organised the photo, so everything went out pretty, pretty well I would say. The reaction was how you all saw it, she was very surprised, despite we being together for a few years. She clearly did not expect that this was the moment, there are some photos where you can see at least 10 people who have shock on their faces, but this is what made it so special,” adds the 32-year-old left back.

Paris 2024 could also be the Olympic farewell for Campoy, who did not participate in Tokyo 2020, where Argentina took home the silver medal, but returned to Las Leonas for one last adventure. Both players are currently in Spain, where they live their day-to-day life, but the Olympics are definitely one adventure that they could not say no to.

“For me, it was something special, because of our history, because we met in Paris, because we both are representing our country, because the Olympics are the most special competition. I did everything to set the wheels in place and it turned out amazing, even better than I thought. We are very happy together,” says Simonet.

With only three days before the start of the men’s handball competition at Paris 2024, Simonet probably had his biggest worry off his chest and can focus on handball, where Argentina are aiming to progress to the knockout phase for the first time in history, after finishing 10th at London 2012 and Rio 2016 and 12th at Tokyo 2020.

However, in a group with reigning world champions Denmark, reigning Olympic champions France, Hungary and Norway, as well as African champions Egypt,  things will definitely be tough for the South American side.

“We are here to compete and qualify for the quarter-finals, despite having some difficult opponents, like Denmark or France. We will try our best and try to win as many matches possible and give some hard time to our opponents,” concluded Simonet.