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Two members of Team GB’s support team have become Olympic heroes after helping to save the life of the head coach of the Uzbek boxing team.

Tulkin Kilichev was celebrating the gold medal for Uzbek boxer Hasanboy Dusmatov in the warm-up area at Roland Garros on Thursday evening when he suffered a cardiac arrest.

Luckily for Kilichev, GB boxing doctor Harj Singh and physio Robbie Lillis were also in the warm-up area and rushed to his aid. Singh performed CPR and Lillis applied a defibrillator.

“The (Uzbek) coaching staff came back to the warm-up area and everyone was celebrating, and then there were screams coming from that area that had nothing to do with celebrating at all,” Lillis said.

“There was a call for a doctor. Harj was the first to respond and I followed him with the emergency bag we carry with us.

“When I arrived about 30 seconds after Harj, he had already started CPR on the bus. Many of the buses were visibly distressed by the whole situation, so it took a while for us to get them all out of the way.

“I opened the emergency bag, got out the defibrillator and put the pads on him as quickly as possible. After analyzing his heart rhythm, a shock was recommended, so we took everyone away and gave him a shock.

“He didn’t come back to consciousness at first, but about 20 to 30 seconds later, after Harj continued CPR, he suddenly came back to us, which was great.”

Singh and Lillis then handed over to the venue’s medical team, which arrived a few minutes later, and Kilichev was taken to hospital, where his condition appears to be stable.

“Hopefully he makes a full recovery,” Lillis added. “Speed ​​is the most important thing. I’m very, very grateful that we had all the equipment and that Harj and I were there and getting trained.”

“This is definitely not my everyday job and I don’t want it to become a routine, but thanks to the training I was able to make it happen.”

Team GB medical staff regularly attend the UK Sports Institute and, among other things, take part in a pitchside trauma course to prepare them for such an eventuality.

Lillis admitted that he did not sleep at all on the night of Thursday following the incident.

“It was obviously quite an adrenaline rush at the time to somehow manage the situation,” he said. “I’m obviously grateful that I was able to contribute to hopefully helping someone survive.”

“My mom said something really nice. She said, ‘This is your Olympic moment.’ That’s something I’ll definitely remember. I don’t think I’ll forget that anytime soon.”

Singh has more experience treating cardiac arrests, although this usually happens in the hospital. He hopes he and Lillis can visit Kilichev.

“It puts things in perspective,” Singh said. “It all happened so quickly. At some point we will try to go to the hospital. If that could be arranged, I think it would be quite emotional for both of us.”