WATCH: Heartwarming surprise reunion between rival Olympians, 50 years later

Fifty years after they competed intensely against one another in the pentathlon at the 1972 Munich Olympics, Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s Lady Mary Peters and Germany’s Heide Rosendahl are reunited in a beautifully captured moment for a new docuseries by the Olympic Channel.

Rosendahl was the fan favourite for gold in the 1972 event, competing with home crowd support, but was bested by Peters in a narrow margin of 10 points.

Belfast-based Peters explained that she knew she had won the gold medal when she felt Rosendahl’s hands on her shoulders, a moment shown in the clip. Peters is recounting the experience for the docuseries when viewers see she’s in for a touching surprise.

Watch the clip on Twitter, and we dare you to hold back the tears.

Friendships that last a lifetime ?

See the heartwarming surprise reunion between Mary Peters ?? and Heide Rosendahl ??, 50 years after they competed against each other at Munich 1972.

Watch more in our new original docu-series, '72 – A Gathering of Champions' ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/eSjRl00KSv

— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) August 14, 2022