2026 Winter Olympics: Ukrainian skier gets finals spot and a fiance on Valentine's Day

LIVIGNO - Ukrainian freestyle skier Kateryna Kotsar had a hunch something good was going to happen at the Winter Olympics on Saturday. She did not know it would be two things.

The first thing to celebrate was her performance in the qualifying round of the big air competition. Kotsar landed two solid jumps to make it through to the medal contest on Monday.

Just after she finished her final run came a surprise. Kotsar's boyfriend got down on one knee on the side of the Alpine slope and asked her to marry him. She said yes.

"I think he was nervous," the 25-year-old Kotsar said. "It was so cute to be honest."

Kotsar said she had forgotten that Saturday was Valentine's Day and did not suspect her boyfriend, Bohdan Fashtryha, was going to propose.

She said she had an instinct earlier in the day that something positive was coming her way, but she thought that feeling was related to the Olympic competition.

Minutes before the proposal, Kotsar had a hard crash at the end of her third run. Both skis and her goggles flew off.

Kotsar said she was unharmed and the crash did not matter in the contest because she had scored enough on her first two jumps to rank 11th, just above the cutoff of 12 skiers who advanced to the final.

Talking to reporters afterwards, Kotsar took off her ski glove to show off her engagement ring. She said she was still processing everything that happened.

"I still am excited and can't understand what happened tonight because it's two really huge things for me," she said.

—Reuters