“Your father is a world champion,” said Caio Bonfim, sending a heartfelt message to his children, Miguel, Theo, and Manoel. After crossing the finish line in 1:18:35 at the Tokyo World Athletics Championships on Saturday, he struck gold in the 20km race walk, just a week after taking silver in the 35km. Gasping for breath and sneaking backward glances every 30 seconds on his approach to the Japan National Stadium, Bonfim stormed past all of his rivals in the final lap to finally secure his dream title and make his kids beam with pride. He certainly made his three kids happy, but his wife might not be as thrilled.

Why? Because the champion lost something far more precious than a medal. Mid-race, the 2024 Olympic silver medalist realized his wedding ring had slipped out around the 3km mark. Even two hours after crossing the finish line, he wasn’t celebrating; journalists reported he was still scouring the track, desperately searching for the ring. When reporters got hold of him, Caio Bonfim revealed, “I lost my wedding ring in the third kilometer, but I still believe my wife will be okay because I won today.”

He added, ” After winning silver in the 35-kilometer walk, my wife told me to believe in myself because I would win gold. It was a tough race, and I knew I could grow as the race progressed, that I could connect with the leading group. Little by little, I moved up a few places. This is a World Championship of resilience.” Caio Bonfim celebrated his triumph, but with a hint of nerves, almost adorably, he confessed to his wife with a grin, “I thought that if I won the gold medal, my wife wouldn’t be angry, so I confessed.”

He scoured the track, confessed to his wife, and admitted to the reporters, so what more could he do? Now, the athlete has turned to the Japanese public, pleading for their help in his dilemma. “I believe in the Japanese people. At the 20km and 35km races, Japanese people cheered on athletes from other countries as well,” he said, bowing his head in hope.

Well, after the news went public, a reporter from ‘The Answer’ rushed to the circuit to find that traffic restrictions had already been lifted, and searching for the missing ring was nearly impossible. The Olympics’ social media handle even posted a video about the incident, urging anyone who attended the race to hand over any found rings to the nearest police station.

A quick check at the local police station revealed that, as of 1:50 p.m. on the 20th, no official report of the missing ring had been filed. For now, the search continues, and while hope lingers, only time will tell if he’ll ever get it back. But before we dive into the mystery, let’s hear what Caio Bonfim had to say about his race.

Caio Bonfim reveals his true thoughts after his victory

Chaos erupted in the final stretch, but Caio Bonfim had his sights firmly on gold. The turning point came when a costly penalty slowed world record holder Toshikazu Yamanishi, giving Bonfim the opening he needed. Seizing the moment, the Brazilian surged across the finish line in 1:18:35, etching his name into the annals of history. “I overtook the Chinese and Spanish athletes on the last lap, but I thought I was second and accelerated to try to win a medal,” said Bonfim after crossing the final line without even realizing that he won the medal.

While speaking to the media, he shared the story of his lost ring but also expressed heartfelt gratitude to his father, his first coach, and to his mother, Gianetti Sena Bonfim, a fellow racewalker who continues to guide him as his current coach. “It was special to hug my mother after the finish line. I grew up in a race walking environment. This is my eighth World Championship. I didn’t finish my first in 2013 and won gold today.”

He further added, “This is my fourth World Championship medal, and I’m honored to be part of the same generation of athletes as Alison dos Santos. In Brazil, they can now say, ‘Caio Bonfim won medals too.” The athlete now has three medals in race walking. Alongside his gold, he earlier secured bronze medals in the 20km event at the 2017 London and 2023 Budapest World Championships. Now only, Ecuador’s Jefferson Pérez holds the record for the most World Championship medals in the men’s 20km race walk, with a total of four.