"Mondo Duplantis felt like I had rejected him right away": Olympian's fiancee Desire Inglander opens up about their first in-person interaction

Mondo Duplantis' fiancee Desire Inglander claimed the Olympic champion had felt like she had rejected him after their first in-person interaction during a Midsummer party in 2020. The couple recently got engaged and are due to get married soon.

The couple had previously mentioned that their first interaction happened at the Midsummer party through a chance meeting arranged by their friends. Inglander has now revealed that Duplantis had DM'd her months before and made it to the party after he noticed that she had marked 'attending' on the event's Facebook group.

Speaking in an interview with Vogue Scandinavia, she said:

“He DM’d me months before, like February that year."

However, the 23-year-old wasn't interested in any romantic relationship at the time, which made Duplantis feel he had been rejected.

“I had just graduated high school, I was not interested in anybody at the time. He felt like I had rejected him right away," she added

But the pole vaulter was relentless in his efforts and secured a date before traveling to the US for training. The couple shared drinks at a “cute bar” in Kungsholmen, Sweden, and nearly four years later and over 3800 miles away, Duplantis surprised her with an engagement ring during a photo shoot in East Hampton, New York.

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Desire Inglander still in disbelief over surreal engagement surprise by Mondo Duplantis

26th European Athletics Championships - Mondo Celebrates his gold medal victory by sharing a hug with fiancee Desire Inglander (Source: Getty)

Speaking in the above-mentioned interview, Desire Inglander claimed she was still not able to get over the joy of getting engaged with Mondo Duplantis.

“When I look back at everything I’m like, ‘What just happened?’. I’m just looking at me as a young kid, I would have never believed myself if I saw this," the 23-year-old said.

The couple were doing a photo shoot with Vogue Scandinavia when Duplantis surprised her with a wedding ring and while Inglander was shocked, the Olympic champion claimed he had never been so nervous in his life.

“I can safely say it’s the most nervous I’ve been in my life. I had a few lines that I thought I was going to say, but I lost my words. I completely froze,” Mondo Duplantis told the magazine afterward.

The two-time Olympic champion had also arranged a party with his and Inglander's family and friends from Stockholm and Louisiana to celebrate the engagement after the shoot. The couple are due for marriage soon after Inglander was recently spotted searching for wedding planners.