French athlete Alice Finot celebrated breaking the European women’s 3000m steeplechase record in Tuesday’s final by proposing to her boyfriend after the race.

Finot finished fourth with a time of 8:58.67 behind medalists Winfred Yavi of Bahrain, Peruth Chemutai of Uganda and Faith Cherotich of Kenya. It marked the first time four women broke nine minutes.

Finot then went to the stands to hug her boyfriend — triathlete Bruno Martínez Bargiela from Spain — and got down on one knee to propose with an Olympic pin. Bargiela said yes and Finot pinned his shirt.

French athlete Alice Finot broke the European steeplechase record, finishing fourth in the final and proposed after. 🥹 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/BreMAAsq2A

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 7, 2024

“I told myself that if I ran under nine minutes, knowing that nine is my lucky number and that we’ve been together for nine years, then I would propose,” Finot told reporters, per the Daily Mail.

“I don’t like doing things like everyone else. Since he hadn’t done it yet, I told myself that maybe it was up to me to do it. So, I gave a pin that I ran with to my boyfriend. On it, it says: Love is in Paris.”

With her proposal, Finot joined a growing list of Olympians getting engaged at the Paris Games.

Last week, China’s Huang Ya Qiong left her badminton mixed doubles final with a gold medal and a diamond ring after her boyfriend, Liu Yu Chen, a Chinese badminton player also competing in Paris, surprised her with flowers and a proposal. Huang said yes.

On Friday, French skiff sailing partners Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon were proposed to by their respective boyfriends after winning bronze in the women’s skiff 49erFX. Their boyfriends promised Steyaert and Picon that they would get engaged if the sailing partners medaled.

U.S. shot putter Payton Otterdahl proposed to his girlfriend, Maddy Nilles, in front of the Eiffel Tower on Sunday, one day after placing fourth in the men’s shot put final. On Monday, U.S. rower Justin Best got engaged to his girlfriend, Lainey Duncan, live on the “Today” show.

The day before the Opening Ceremony, men’s handball player Pablo Simonet proposed to field hockey player Maria Campoy during a photo op for Argentina’s athletes in the Olympic Village.

 (Photo: Hannah Peters / Getty Images)

The Chargers have listed Los Angeles native Daiyan Henley as the starting left inside linebacker on the team’s first posted depth chart of the Jim Harbaugh era but, despite the hype surrounding his progress, his psyche is unmoved.

“Reaching the NFL, that was the dream,” Henley said. “But now, it’s what’s next, and I haven’t gotten to what’s next as there is so much work to be done.”

Running alongside veteran Denzel Perryman with the first-team defense, the 2023 third-round draft pick continues to impress and aims to build trust with his coaches and teammates.

Henley’s speed and ability to cover ground have earned praise from coaches and teammates. All-Pro Derwin James noted that Henley plays like a safety at linebacker.

Henley has shown high energy on the field, where his patience sometimes has to outweigh his drive to be physical, especially in coverage.

“My first day with pads, I felt like I still had something to prove,” Henley said.

He credits his development to former All-Pro NaVorro Bowman, a San Francisco 49ers legend whose game Henley seeks to emulate.

“We get to see him do the things that we want to do,” Henley said about watching Bowman’s film. “That’s the best thing about having Coach Bo.”

Henley restrains his eagerness for physical contact, for instance when he lines up across from tight end Stone Smartt during “non-contact” team drills. That makes him eager to unleash his physical style in the first preseason game Saturday at home against the Seattle Seahawks.

“I am looking forward to the Seahawks tight end,” Henley said. “There ain’t no leash; let me off.”

Joshua Palmer nicked

The Chargers expect veteran receiver Joshua Palmer to carry a big load this season, but the last two practices have been challenging for him as he spent extra time with trainers on the sidelines.

Palmer made a diving catch Tuesday as he collided with Deane Leonard in the end zone. The wideout stayed down momentarily before trainers helped him off the field as he flexed his right knee. He later returned to practice.

After making another great catch Wednesday, Palmer groaned loudly and left the field, clearly bothered by his right leg. He walked along the sidelines and stretched with trainers. He was absent from individual catching and full team drills for the rest of practice, carrying his helmet.

Ladd McConkey also spent another practice working with trainers on the sidelines for a still undisclosed injury.

NCAA punishes Harbaugh

Harbaugh is being punished by the NCAA for recruiting violations during his tenure as Michigan’s head coach.

The organization announced Wednesday a four-year show-cause order, stating that Harbaugh made impermissible contact with recruits and players during the COVID-19 pandemic. The penalty bans Harbaugh from college athletics until August 2028, only taking effect if he unexpectedly returns to college football within the next four years.

The NCAA stated, “Harbaugh engaged in unethical conduct and failed to cooperate when he denied any involvement in impermissible recruiting contacts despite substantial information to the contrary.”

Harbaugh was not scheduled to speak with the media Wednesday.

This case is separate from the investigation into impermissible scouting and sign-stealing allegations during Michigan’s 2023 championship season, for which the Big Ten Conference suspended Harbaugh for three games.

PARIS — With the Eiffel Tower presiding over a crowd of thousands and “The Star-Spangled Banner” ringing out on a perfect August day in the French capital, nine American Olympians finally got their reward for something they did 912 days ago and 5,000 miles away.

The 2022 U.S. Olympic figure skaters had to wait 2 1/2 years to the day to get their gold medals for the team event at the Beijing Games, but at least the venue was well worth the delay.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I walked out there,” Karen Chen said of the view. “It was just … I’m speechless, I don’t know. It’s extremely special.”

OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALISTS 🇺🇸🥇 pic.twitter.com/wftC6deAkY

— Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 7, 2024

Chen and her eight teammates from that 2022 team — Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, Alexa Knierim, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell, Zachary Donohue, Madison Chock and Evan Bates — were all in Paris for Wednesday’s ceremony, which was delayed for more than two years because the circumstances around their ascent to gold were under review in court.

At the team event at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Russia cruised to what appeared to be a nine-point win and a gold medal. The United States finished second, with Japan in bronze medal position.

However, the medal ceremony, scheduled for the next day, was postponed because IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said it involved a “legal consultation” with the International Skating Union.

Reports soon followed that star Russian skater Kamila Valieva, 15 years old at the time, had tested positive six weeks earlier for trimetazidine (TMZ), a medicine that can improve blood flow to the heart and is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned substance list. The case was pending for two years, with no medals being awarded in the meantime before the Court of Arbitration for Sport sided with WADA and handed down a four-year ban to Valieva in January.

That decision cleared the way for the IOC to disqualify her results in Beijing, which bumped Russia down to bronze and made the United States the gold medal winner. The Americans knew for months that the gold was theirs; Wednesday’s medal ceremony — which also honored Japan, the now the silver medalists — was the last formal step.

“That’s what we were fighting for,” Chen said. “We really wanted to have a moment. That’s what we didn’t get at Beijing. And so, to get this moment here, it’s such a great moment for us.”

Valieva’s ban was retroactive to December 2021, so she will be eligible to compete in the 2026 Olympics, though perhaps only individually. The IOC did not allow Russia to compete in team events in Paris due to their ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and only approved Russian and Belarussian athletes could compete under the label “Individual Neutral Athletes.”

Several Americans spoke Wednesday of the ongoing fight to keep the sport clean.

“It really symbolizes the value of clean sport,” Chock, an ice dancer on the 2022 team, said, “and I think this is a win for clean athletes everywhere, to show that there is justice and due process.”

Much has changed since the Beijing Olympics for this group. Some have retired. Zhou, a singles skater, enrolled at Brown. Chock and Bates, partners on the ice, got married in June. Hubbell, an ice dancer, also got married last year and had a daughter in February. But they all came back together for a long-overdue celebration.

“Our team has been very resilient and strong throughout the wait,” Bates said. “We feel grateful to have a real Olympic ceremony with the national anthem and our entire team here.”

Said Chock: “I could have never imagined a better setting. To get our Winter Olympic medal at the Summer Olympics is something I could’ve never dreamed of.”

Required reading

(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)