The Commonwealth Games took a romantic turn on Sunday when Scottish cyclist Chris Pritchard proposed to his girlfriend Amanda Ball after finishing his race.Still wearing his race kit after the track cycling race known as kierin, in which he finished in third place, the 31-year-old sportsman made his way to where his girlfriend was sitting with the couple's baby boy Milo.
Scottish cyclist Chris Pritchardproposed to his girlfriend Amanda Ball
He then surprised the crowd in the stands at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome by getting down on one knee and proposing to Amanda, who was looking pretty in a pink summery dress and sandals. Luckily for the cyclist, Amanda happily said yes, delighting attendees and her future husband, who slipped an engagement ring onto her finger and punched the air in celebration.
Chris delighted the surprised the crowd in the stands at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome on Sunday
The Sheffield-born cyclist said later: "I couldn't tell anybody because I didn't want it to get out, it was top secret." He also revealed that this was not an impromptu proposal, but one he had been planning for quite some time. "I have been plotting this for about five or six months. It has taken a lot of hard work," he told the BBC.
His girlfriend Amanda, who was holding the couple's baby boy, said yes "I thought, 'she is going to say yes' so I just put that away and I just thought about what was going on in the keirin. It was a really good keirin, I really enjoyed it." Meanwhile, bride-to-be Amanda said that it wasn't actually too much of a surprise after all.
The Countess of Wessex and Prince Edward were among attendees at the Commonwealth Games "It was never in doubt," she said. "I have been nagging for long enough. The ring is just like the one I took a picture of and left on the computer screen!"
