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Journalism of Courage
A heartwarming clip from a new documentary series featuring the emotional reunion of former Olympian Lady Mary Peters with her former track rival Heide Rosendahl was shared from the official Twitter handle of The Olympic Games. The surprise reunion moment has struck a chord among netizens and many have been left emotional.
The Olympic Channel’s clip features the 1972 Munich Olympics when Northern Ireland’s Peters and Rosendahl of Germany competed against each other. As Peters recounts her memories from the Olympics in front of the camera, Rosendahl is seen approaching her from behind.
Peters beat Rosendhal by just ten points in the Olympic women’s pentathlon and she reminisced her memories of the moment when she realised she had won the game. Peters is heard saying in the video, “I knew when I felt her hands on my shoulders and I looked around and it was Heide. And we just hugged and it was..” As she speaks, Rosendhal touches her shoulder from behind and Peters turns back to see her and gets surpised. Excitedly, she says, “Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! Oh wow” and they hug each other laughing out loud.
Watch the video here:
The clip from documentary series ’72 – A Gathering of Champions’ also shows the moments from the Olympics when Peters beat Rosendahl in the split screen. Rosendahl, who won silver, was seen graciously congratulating and hugging her rival. “That’s what the Olympics is all about, its the friendships and the memories and the joy of sharing,” added 83-year-old Peters.
The reunion of the duo melted hearts online. A user commented, “I thought this was the best part of the documentary – especially when Heide walks in from behind and surprises Mary at the Olympic stadium – so heartwarming.” Another user commented, “How fabulous, I remember Mary Peters coming to our Primary School with her Olympic Gold in the 70’s , What an occasion x.”
According to Dailymail, Peters, born in Lancashire, was brought up in Belfast. The woman, who won gold for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, still lives in Belfast.
