Rio de Janeiro: The Olympic pool has been at boiling point amid allegations of doping, bitter feuds and the re-opening of Cold War divides. This is the photo that captures the moment when humanity struck a blow in return.
The image shows a stunned Cate Campbell emerging from the pool after the 100m freestyle final. The overwhelming favourite, she would finish sixth, was ashen-faced as she tried to digest her failure to fire when she had wanted it so very badly.
On Friday night, Campbell would break down in tears after returning to form in the 50m, qualifying second fastest for Saturday night's decider. With her guard down, she was raw and honest, thanking Australia for the support after the most trying night of her career.
"It's been incredibly tough but the support that I've received has been overwhelming. That's what really touches me. I don't think I've ever received this many hugs," Campbell said, relieved to start letting it all out.
"People have come up and called me a legend when I've felt like an idiot, which I think I think is the highest of compliments."
That support started before she was even out of the water, not from fans but her sprint rivals, Swedish great Sarah Sjostrom and Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen. Sjostrom bends down to her knees to comfort the distressed Campbell, while Ottesen puts her hands around her face.
The trio are all friends, having swum against each other time and again at international meets. Campbell has won over so many of her competitors with her outgoing personality and the pair were quickly on the scene once they saw the carnage on the big screen.
"Cate, she is such a great sportsman, I love her to bits and I felt really sorry for her," Ottesen told Fairfax Media. "We spend so much time together and compete so often against each other that you create a bond. It's hard to see what she went through.
"It's hard... you don't really have much to say. It's hard to speak words after races like that."
Sjostrom took an unexpected bronze in the race to go with her gold medal in her pet 100m butterfly. Instead of celebrating, she turned her attention to Campbell, who she expected would not only win but go close to her own world record.
"We are friends.. I always want to support her. If you can see someone that is so disappointed, you want to go and say something and put your hand on their shoulder," Sjostrom said.
"Usually she is happy all the time... she is always smiling."
Sisters in arms: Cate and Bronte Campbell after the 100m freestyle final. Photo: Lee Jin-man
Campbell was smiling once again on Friday night, even with tears rolling down her face. She had swum well this time and along with sister Bronte, made it through to the final.
She had genuinely feared that nobody would want anything to do with her after her 100m failings, that those who wanted to associate with her beforehand would simply move onto the next bright prospect.
Instead, she was overwhelmed with well-wishes from her team-mates, fans in Australia and within the Village.
"There is such a thing as wanting it too much and trying too hard. I was called a try-hard in school and I guess that I just proved all my teachers right," she said.
"I think the nicest thing someone ever said to me was that 'people love gold medals but they love people more'. And to hear that was really, really touching for me.
"This is the first time I've cried in any interview and it wasn't talking about the results, it was talking about the outpouring of support. I think that Australia really came through when I needed it.
"The Olympic Games are a bit like a soap opera. There are highs and lows. There is triumph and heartbreak and I just provided the heartbreak."
After being made to wait for hours to race in the 50m semis, both Cate and Bronte looked relaxed and composed in the water. Both are strong medal prospects and you suspect, this time they might just seize the moment.
From one of the toughest stories of the Games could come one of the best.
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