Bruno Martinez Bargiela and Alice Finot

Alice Finot first made a vow to herself: Break nine minutes in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, propose to her boyfriend.

First, the French track star finished just shy of the podium in the Aug. 6 final but broke the European record (along with the three medalists) with her time of 8:58.67.

And then, she headed over to the stands and asked Bruno Martinez Bargiela, a triathlete from Spain, to marry her, offering up a competition memento instead of a ring.

“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 afterward, 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.'”

And, Alice noted, Bruno said yes.