Incredible act of sportsmanship brings Invictus athlete to tears

A swimmer at the Invictus Games has broken down in tears over a beautiful act of sportsmanship from a fellow competitor.

British athlete Sarah Robinson was struggling to finish her race on Tuesday, before compatriot and competitor Poppy Pawsey produced an incredible gesture.

Pawsey had already finished the race, but swam back to the 25m mark to encourage Robinson, swimming alongside her to make sure she finished too.

After Robinson touched the wall, Pawsey pointed to her teammate and made sure the crowd commended her efforts, causing Robinson to burst into tears.

“That’s what it is all about here. I am so, so proud of her,” Pawsey said afterwards.

“I really wanted to be there for teammates like Sarah who have not swum before and who are very nervous.”

The pair also shared a beautiful embrace after leaving the pool.

“It was just much better than I expected,” Robinson said.

Robinson finished 23rd overall on the day, clocking up a time of 1:13.26 in the Women’s 50m ISD Freestyle event, and had Pawsey to thank for helping her overcome her anxiety.

“Poppy has given me so much advice and been so helpful. Recently down at UK Training Headquarters she told me to not to worry and just swim my own race,” she said.

“I was so worried I would come last and be letting people down.

“I get so scared in the water. You don’t know how huge this is for me.”

And it’s not the first beautiful moment we’ve seen

On Monday, UK wheelchair tennis player Paul Guest was competing alongside Dutchman Edwin Vermetten when he was overcome by the sounds of an overhead helicopter.

Guest was about to serve when the sounds of a helicopter flying over the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre brought back some painful memories.

Guest toured Northern Ireland as a mine warfare specialist, before his career came to an end in 1987 when he was injured on duty.

He suffered neck and spinal injuries, which resulted in partial deafness and a visibility impairment.

So when Guest heard the helicopter fly past on Monday, he broke down.

But teammate Vermetten, who only met Guest a few weeks ago, rushed to Guest’s side to comfort him.

Vermetten embraced his teammate, linking arms with Guest and offering some words of encouragement, bringing a number of spectators to tears.

After a long embrace, Guest managed to regroup and deliver the match-winning serve for a 7-5 5-7 (11-9 tiebreak) victory.

When asked about the moment after the match, Vermetten revealed he used the help of Disney to calm his teammate down.

“I took him by the face and said ‘Look at me. We are a team so let it go,” said Vermetten.

“Look into my eyes and sing the ‘Frozen’ song, and we did.

“For him, this was the moment he let go, and he did, he literally let it all go.”