A play during an Olympic rugby sevens match between Great Britain and Ireland left the internet in disbelief—surprisingly, it wasn't a fantastic tackle or a triumphant try that stole the show.
Instead, it was the superhuman strength displayed by Irish player Erin King in saving her teammate Emily Lane from an accident that became the primary focus of conversation online.
Held at the Stade de France on Tuesday (July 30), the game saw the two women's teams compete for seventh place after losing in the quarterfinals of the competition.
In the end, Team Great Britain came out victorious, clinching a 28-12 win over Ireland.
Irish rugby sevens player Erin King became the talk of the web after demonstrating superhuman strength to save her teammate, Emily Lane, from an accident
King may not have secured seventh place, but she was widely praised on social media after ensuring Lane didn't fall on her back.
During the viral play, which occurred with only five minutes remaining on the clock, King lifted up her teammate to catch the ball that Great Britain had kicked to restart the game.
Lane immediately lost balance and would have hit her head on the pitch if it hadn't been for King's strength to maintain her grip over her fellow countrywoman.
The viral play occurred during a match against Great Britain to compete for seventh place
Image credits: Erin King
People were impressed by the Olympian's feat. One user wrote under a clip of the play, which has been viewed over 32 million times, "We're like four days into the Olympics, and Girl Rugby is already my new favorite sport."
"My lower back hurts just watching this," quipped another user.
"Amazing! How strong you have to be to hold someone like that! These girls are all muscle," a third person agreed.
"Wow! That has taken my breath away. Incredible!" a separate person penned.
An additional commentator focused on the deep trust between the players, saying, "Wow. The amazing level of automatic trust she has in her team."
When Lane lost her balance while trying to catch the ball, her teammate grabbed her with both arms, saving her from falling headfirst onto the pitch
Image credits: TikTok
Following the defeat of the Ireland team, head coach Allan Temple-Jones mentioned that the players are now focused on what lies ahead and highlighted that the Olympics experience would help them grow as a team.
"We've just got to learn. Playing in front of so many people at the Stade de France is unbelievable for us," Temple-Jones said, as per MetroNews.
"We're going to take lots of learnings from it moving forward. We've got to grow the squad and grow the depth of our group.
"Exposing young girls to an Olympics like this and a stadium like this is going to be a strength for both the 15s and Sevens squads. It's brilliant.
"To get girls playing on this stage and mixing between both squads on the 15s and Sevens side is unbelievable."