WHAT IT’S LIKE TO… GO vIRAL AT THE O Ly m p I c G A m E S
Iz z y Cerullo’s engagement at the Rio Sevens captured imaginations
T ALL happened so fast. At the end of the women’s sevens competition at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, volunteer manager Marjorie Enya publicly proposed to her girlfriend Izzy Cerullo, a player for Brazil.
The internet was instantly set ablaze. Looking back on it now, Cerullo explains the pair’s reaction to their sudden fame.
“It was a strange, surreal experience!” the now 27-year-old says. “We weren’t actually expecting any of that to go viral. Marjorie’s intentions, when she proposed, were for it to be a small thing with her venue staff, because that was
Iher family in Rio for the year when she worked there for the Olympics. “It was supposed to be a contained thing but then someone alerted the press and it got a bit out of hand, if you will. Because it’s a really personal thing, we didn’t realise it’d be so (popular).
“I knew there were cameras around but – it sounds really cheesy now – I was so focused on her, I didn’t see what was happening. The next day I turned my phone on and it almost exploded because of all the notifications!”
Widely praised and an instant hit online, the pitchside proposal became one of the highlights of the Rio Games. Enya said at the time that the proposal was a smash because “love wins”.
As qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics begins for the men’s and women’s teams on the world circuit, Cerullo – who has been married to Enya for just over a year now – reflects on the legacy of the couple’s viral moment.
“We had a moment of realising the impact of what we had done and that it is newsworthy because it’s not a normal occurrence in the modern day. We hope that eventually it won’t be (so out of the ordinary) but while it still is, we’ll keep being political about sharing our love, because love will always win. Eventually