Argentine surfer Martin Passeri is the five-time winner of the nation’s annual surfing championship, and was considered a front-runner for this year’s title.

He didn’t win this year, though, because in the middle of the competition he had Nicolas Gallegos join him on the beach.

From the Inertia:

The five-time Argentinian surf champion is no stranger to the podium. So when he stopped short on the sand on his way out to his heat, everyone was surprised. He stopped next to Nicolas Gallegos, who sat in his wheelchair on the sand. At 18, he was paralyzed from the waist down, cutting his dream of learning to surf short. But when Passeri stopped on the sand twenty years after the accident, his dream would come true.

Some reports say Passeri was disqualified from the tournament, but others say he simply lost by taking so much time to get Gallegos up on the board. Whatever happened, Passeri decided it was more important than the competition, and that is beautiful.