Grace Brown's touching act for Olympic teammate Luke Plapp comes to light amid horror crash

Fresh off winning a gold medal Grace Brown has rushed to be by the side of her Olympic cycling teammate, Luke Plapp, after he suffered a horror crash in the men's time trial on Sunday morning. On Saturday, Brown dominated the women's road time trial through the heart of Paris to win Australia's first gold medal of the Olympics.

The 32-year-old won by a whopping one minute 31 seconds after several of her key rivals crashed in the miserable conditions. But the elation of Brown's triumph was tempered by Sunday morning's news that her close friend and fellow Aussie cyclist, Plapp, needed abdominal surgery after a horrific fall in the men's time trial. Just hours after her gold medal victory, the cyclist's attention shifted to Plapp's wellbeing as she opted to postpone celebrations to be by his hospital bedside.

Following his fall just after the 13.1km checkmark in the race, Plapp was rushed into surgery. Disturbing footage taken by a fan on the sidelines showed the 23-year-old sprawled on the ground and struggling to regain his feet. The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said he was in a "stable condition" in hospital and he got a much-needed spirit lift hours later, with Brown turning up to check on him.

Brown arrived at the hospital less than 24 hours after winning gold, in an act that clearly meant a lot to Plapp. In the early hours of Monday morning (AEDT) Plapp shared a picture of the duo in his room captioned: “Special visit at the hospital this morning from the OLYMPIC CHAMP. Made my day yesterday and today! What an absolute superstar."

The post was quickly flooded with messages of support and care. Retired Australian Olympic swimmer Travis Mahoney wrote: "Get better soon mate". While the Australian cycling team added: "Two superstars in this pic. Get well soon Plappy."

A fan who witnessed the crash also commented in French: "I was a spectator on this cursed roundabout yesterday at the time of your fall and that long before the rescue arrived in the rain, reassured to see that smile, get well soon."

Grace Brown's brother says conditions had him 'terrified'

So dangerous were the wet conditions in Paris that Brown’s brother Hamish, said watching his sister attempt to win gold was a terrifying experience. “It was terrifying because that was a very slippery, wet course there,” he told Sunrise on Sunday.

“Basically, we knew that she had it in her. She’s raced at a very high level in the time trial for a few years now. Her form’s on fire, she’s had an incredible racing season this year, so all the ingredients were there for her to really bring it home. She just had to execute, (and) execute she did.

RELATED:

• Olympics caller axed over 'inappropriate' remark after Aussie golden girls

• Matildas in stunning scenes as fans lose the plot over epic comeback

• Emma McKeon in heartbreaking scenes as Jessica Fox claims gold

"She put in an incredible race and came in a minute and a half before the next-placed woman. So, (we’re a) very, very proud family (and) I’m a very proud brother.”

with AAP