Mexican para-triathlete Brenda Osnaya was looking to the Paralympics in Paris as a chance to add to the history she made three years ago, as the first woman from her country to compete in the sport at the Games.
Publicly out as gay before Tokyo, she again missed out on a medal but ended up making a golden memory instead.
Osnaya first took up triathlon while recovering from a broken spine suffered in a car accident in 2010. Within three years, she was winning elite-level events, including three ITU World Championships. In 2021, on her Paralympic debut, she finished fifth in a competitive PTWC field.
Monday’s event in Paris started out with a strong swim that put her in third place at the end of the first leg. When she got out of the water, she was notified by her coach and handler Jessie Gonzalez that she was assessed a penalty for obstruction while battling with Canada’s Leanne Taylor for position in the swim.
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Osnaya served the penalty, mounted her handcycle and sped off for the second phase of the race. She was able to gain back some of the lost time and scrambled to within 14 seconds of the bronze, in fifth — or at least she thought she was fifth when she crossed the finish line.
She then received bad news from Gonzalez. In the confusion over the first penalty, a second one for obstruction was assessed — but neither knew about that second penalty until Osnaya raced out onto the bike course. She was disqualified for not serving the second penalty which Osnaya’s team protested, to no avail.
“When we got to the finish line crossing in fifth place, I was told a judge was reviewing it because we had a second warning,” Osnaya explained to reporters after the race. “There was misinformation and confusion over the two penalties and I felt the second penalty was unfair.”
The dark cloud had two silver linings. One was Osnaya already setting the table for Los Angeles in 2028. “At the highest level, I was 15 seconds away from the bronze medal and five seconds away from fourth place,” she declared.
The other was a sign she produced on the line to show to her coach. It read “¿Te quieres casar conmigo?” — “Do you want to marry me?”
Gonzalez has been a part of Osnaya’s dream since 2020, when the para-triathlete made her march up the ranks towards the Paralympics. They have built a successful and special relationship, leading up to the conclusion to Monday’s race and that answer, “si.”
There have been several marriage proposals involving athletes so far this summer during the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, including one at the Eiffel Tower.
For Osnaya and Gonzalez, theirs came after a rough day when there was no medal to celebrate, but they will leave Paris with something most would agree is more precious.
“I was happy because I knew I had already achieved my goal of being in the top five,” Osnaya said. “But asking my partner to marry me makes me happy, too.”
