Yohansson Nascimento of Brazil competes in the Men's 100m - T46 heats at the Paralympic Games in London
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Silver medalist Raciel Gonzalez Isidoria of Cuba, Gold medalist Yohansson Nascimento of Brazil, bronze medalist Simon Patmore of Australia pose on the podium during the medal ceremony in the Men's 200m - T46 Final at the London Paralympics
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London 2012 had a little bit of everything for Brazilian sprinter Nascimento - medals, cartwheels, marriage proposals, world records and tears, lots and lots of tears.
Competing in his second Paralympic Games, Nascimento’s first event at London 2012 was the 200m T46, an event he had won silver (22.35) in at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships.
In the heats he ran 22.27 to smash the world record and went even faster in the final. After storming to gold in a blistering time of 22.05, he pulled out a piece of paper and showed a message to the TV cameras. It was a marriage proposal to his girlfriend watching back home in Brazil.
Judging by his cartwheel onto the podium to collect his gold medal, she must have said yes.
Days later Nascimento, now a crowd favourite, added a silver medal to his collection, this time in the 400m (49.21).
His final event of London 2012 was the 100m. In Beijing four years previous, he had taken bronze (11.25), whilst at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships he had taken silver (11.01). He was desperate for gold in what could be considered his strongest event.
In the heats he obliterated the world record running 10.94 to go under 11 seconds for the first time.
The final should have been a dream finish for Nascimento. Instead it turned into a nightmare.
After making a superb start to lead after 40m, he pulled his hamstring and collapsed to the ground in agony. He was determined to finish however.
Cheered on by 80,000 people and with floods of tears streaming down his face Nascimento limped to the finish line crossing it nearly 90 seconds after the other seven finalists. He may not have won gold, but he won the hearts of the public and received one of the loudest and most emotional standing ovations of the Paralympics.
After what happened in London, who knows what will happen when he competes in Lyon, France this summer.
