Finishing a marathon is a huge accomplishment – especially if you’ve carved time away from a busy life with a family, friends, and work to train.
And for the runner, almost nothing feels as good as finally crossing that finish line at the end.
But for one Rotterdam Marathon runner, Daphne de Kreek, that moment was interrupted when her boyfriend decided to suddenly grab her and kiss her just before she completely the lengthy race.
The moment, which was captured and shared to her TikTok, has since gone viral, sparking fierce backlash for her boyfriend.
In the clip, de Kreek was shown approaching the finish line as some of her family members and friends joined her on the track.
They ran beside her while mostly avoiding contact – aside from a pat on the back – to ensure they didn’t slow her down.
De Kreek’s boyfriend, however, took a different approach, running up to her just before she crossed the line and planting a huge smooch on her lips.
He grabbed her face and passionately kissed her, but the romantic gesture completely took de Kreek by surprise and momentarily slowed her down.
Just before the crossed the finish line of a marathon, Daphne de Kreek was momentarily stopped by her boyfriend, who surprised her with a kiss
The moment has caused quite the stir online, with some branding him as ‘selfish’ for interrupting her finish
Because she was in the middle of running, the two nearly crashed into each other as she pushed towards the end of the race.
The video, which has been viewed more than 4.5 million times, ended with her making it across the line as the song Unstoppable by Sia played in the background.
It appeared that de Kreek was happy about the moment, as her caption – translated from Dutch – reads, ‘What an experience and what support!’
In a second video, de Kreek shared a montage of clips from marathon, which she captioned, ‘Thankful that so many family, friends, and enthusiastic people were on the sidelines. This support really pulled me through!’
And while de Kreek boasted about the support, the internet was much less enthusiastic about it.
Though de Kreek’s comments on the video have been turned off, discourse surrounding the moment has run rampant.
Some critics called her boyfriend ‘selfish,’ and said he should have waited until the finish line to kiss her – allowing her to stay at her original speed and have her moment.
The backlashed mirrored reactions to similar videos where women’s marathon finishes were interrupted by their significant others.
It appeared that de Kreek was happy about the moment, as her caption – translated from Dutch – reads, ‘What an experience and what support!’
And while de Kreek boasted about the support, the internet was much less enthusiastic about it
While it’s a common practice for loved ones to congratulate runners on the marathon, this typically happens after they’re done – so as not to get in the way of their running time.
Back in 2018, a man was shamed for popping the question to his girlfriend during her first New York City Marathon.
Dennis Galvin, a firefighter from Jersey City, New Jersey, proposed to his girlfriend of four years Kaitlyn Curran at mile marker 16
But what was meant to be a sweet surprise proposal at the New York City Marathon, quickly turned sour after social media criticized video of the romantic moment.
