The Olympic triathlon pandemonium that led to a false start was 'kind of annoying,' bronze medal winner says

• The men's individual triathlon has made headlines at the 2020 Olympic Games.
• It featured a false start caused by a misplaced boat, vomiting, and a wheelchair.
• The bronze medalist called the pandemonium "kind of annoying."

An Olympic triathlon disaster that led to a false start was "kind of annoying," the bronze medal winner Hayden Wilde of New Zealand said after the event.

Pandemonium ensued when the swimming leg of Monday's event in Tokyo had to be brought back by a false start because a broadcasting boat blocked around half of the competitors from diving into the water.

The other half were unaware and kept swimming until they were eventually hauled back to dry land to start over.

"I was caught up in that but it was kind of good but kind of annoying at the same time," Wilde said, according to CNN.

"I looked to the left and I was like: 'Oh, man. I've had a great start, this doesn't happen to me.' But then I realized that half of the field wasn't actually there, so we turned back."

Wilde was one of the triathletes to have dived in during the false start. Rather than complain about potentially wasted energy, he claimed it was "actually quite good to tick the arms over for 50 plus meters."

He said: "It kind of got the heart rate up a bit too much. It is what it is and you've just got to keep composed, and sometimes that happens and you've just got to roll with the punches."

The 27-year-old Norwegian athlete Kristian Blummenfelt won the Olympic triathlon title before vomiting everywhere. He left on a wheelchair, according to reports.

Alex Yee, of Great Britain, claimed the silver medal, with Wilde finishing third for the bronze.