A 27-year-old triathlete won Olympic gold, vomited everywhere, and had to be taken away in a wheelchair

• Kristian Blummenfelt won the Olympic triathlon title and widespread acclaim on Monday.
• The Norwegian athlete claimed the gold, vomited everywhere, and left in a wheelchair.
• The Olympic legend Matthew Pinsent called the performance "outstanding."

Kristian Blummenfelt, 27, won Olympic triathlon gold and vomited everywhere before being taken away in a wheelchair on Monday.

The timing for the three-pronged event, which features a 1.5-kilometer swim, a 40-kilometer cycle, and a 10-kilometer run, had to be moved up to prevent heat exhaustion at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

A fail of Olympic proportions plagued the swimming section of the triathlon: A media boat blocked many competitors from safely diving in, so half had to return to dry land after a bizarre false start.

The triathletes then had to endure extreme heat as they ran as fast and as hard as they could for the finish line.

Alex Yee of Great Britain led the way for a long while during the final event, the run. But Blummenfelt, of Norway, overtook him with a well-timed burst at the end, winning by 11 seconds. New Zealand's Hayden Wilde finished third for bronze.

With a pain-stricken face, Blummenfelt grabbed the finishing tape, collapsed, and puked. He had to be helped back to his feet.

The champion then had to be taken away in a wheelchair, according to Eurosport.

Matthew Pinsent, who won four Olympic gold medals in rowing, was full of praise for the winner. "Outstanding gold from Blummenfelt - pushing till you vom is full on," he wrote on Twitter.

The fierce heat meant Blummenfelt's all-white kit was drenched with so much sweat that it became see-through and his underwear was visible.

But he said he actually would have preferred it to be hotter because he had been training in even harder conditions.

"Our team is world-leading for heat preparation so we were a bit disappointed it was not as warm as we were hoping for," he told Reuters.

"I'm from Bergen, where for two-thirds of the year it's windy, rainy and 10 degrees. But that just shows the strength of the team around us in getting that preparation," he said.

Blummenfelt said he'd "been thinking about this race for so many years."

"I was on holiday here many years ago and thought to myself 'OK, your goal is to win an Olympic gold medal here in 2020,'" he said.

He added that he knew he "couldn't outkick them on the carpet" but "could use my engine and really bring it home."