Team USA rower Justin Best proposes to girlfriend Lainey Duncan on-air after winning gold medal

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Louise Thomas

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American Olympian Justin Best found the perfect way to propose to his girlfriend Lainey Duncan – on live television just days after winning his first gold medal.

On August 1, the athlete helped Team USA score its first gold medal in the men’s four rowing since 1960 during the Paris 2024 Olympics. To celebrate the achievement, Best appeared on the Today show on August 5, where he got down on one knee and popped the question to his girlfriend of nine years.

While speaking with Today co-anchors Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker and Craig Melvin, Best and Duncan stood in front of the Eiffel Tower as they opened up about their relationship. At one point, members of Best’s family appeared on camera with more than 2,700 yellow roses, which came as a total surprise to Duncan.

“Lainey Olivia Duncan, you are the love of my life,” Best said, as he got down on one knee. “You have been with me since day one.”

“I knew you were special – it was the first date. I said to you, ‘I wanted to go to the Olympics,’ and you, without question, said, ‘Yeah, absolutely. Go for it,’” he recalled. “You are stunningly beautiful. Ferociously intelligent. Your kindness is bent leaps and bounds. I don’t know anyone that doesn’t love you.”

Best continued: “This is going to be the easiest question of my life. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and raise a family together. Lainey, will you marry me?”

As Duncan accepted Best’s proposal without hesitation, their family and fellow Team USA athletes immediately cheered behind them. The 26-year-old rower then took a moment to explain the significance behind the thousands of yellow roses.

“Each yellow rose represents a day that you and I have been together,” Best said. “Obviously we communicated through Snapchat. Our streak is 2,738 right now. So there are 2,738 yellow roses from Snapchat. Our love is truly now immortalized.”

Duncan replied: “I am so, so happy. This is the best day of my life.”

The couple celebrated their ninth anniversary in March this year. According to Best’s Team USA profile, he got his start in rowing after his parents watched the 2010 film, The Social Network. The Pennsylvania native attended Drexel University, graduating in 2019 with a degree in business and engineering. Meanwhile, Duncan also attended Drexel University and graduated with a degree in fashion and apparel design, according to her LinkedIn.

On Thursday, Best – along with his teammates Nick Mead, Michael Grady, and Liam Corrigan – achieved the gold medal in rowing’s 2,000-meter men’s four final. The team came in first place with a final time of five minutes and 49 seconds, just beating runner-ups New Zealand by 0.85 of a second, while Great Britain won the bronze medal. The same rowing crew, who have raced together for two years, also won silver at the 2023 world championships in September 2023.

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