Laura Diamonds Blog
August 12th, 2013
Olympic gold medal winner Jessica Hardy harnessed the amazing power of the Twitterverse — and her 36,436 followers — to retrieve an engagement ring she accidentally gave away at the conclusion of the World Swimming Championships in Barcelona last week.

hardy5

After snagging two bronze and one gold medal at the high-profile competition, the 26-year-old beauty gave the backpack she had been using during the week to one of the local volunteers. According to swimmingworldmagazine.com., it is customary for world-class athletes to give away their backpacks, apparel and trinkets to thank the volunteers for their hard work.

hardy6

Little did Hardy realize that the engagement ring she had removed during her 50m and 100m breaststroke events on the last day of the championships was still in the backpack. Hardy is engaged to a fellow Olympian, Swiss swimmer Dom Meichtry.

Realizing her massive blunder, Hardy quickly turned to her universe of Twitter followers to help with the search.

hardy1

"I gave away my arena backpack w my engagement ring in it," she Tweeted. "To a volunteer in blue shirt. Pls rt & help me find it. Please!!!!!!"

In a follow-up Tweet, she described where the ring was located in the bag.

Within 30 minutes, the three-stone diamond engagement ring was back in her possession.

hardy2

"I GOT IT!!” she wrote. “Thank u #bcn2013 for ur AMAZING volunteers. Amazing amazing."

hardy4

About 90 minutes later, Hardy posted a photo of herself posing with the super-honest volunteer, who had apparently swapped his blue shirt for a red one. The caption read, "This is who found my ring tonight. Thanks so much #bcn2013 volunteers, appreciate nice people in this world!!!"

Equally pleased with the quick recovery was Hardy’s fiancé, who posted a Tweet of his own, complete with a winking emoticon.

"Thanks to everyone who helped @swimhardy & I breathe a sigh of relief,” Meichtry Tweeted. “Found the ring. Engaged twice now."

The aquatic couple will be wed in California this October.