Hutt Valley physiotherapist Quentin Rew finished 30th in the Olympic 50km walk last night and immediately collapsed into a wheelchair.
Rew, who qualified with a time of 3h 58m 48s in Dundine, Slovakia, this year, was at the tail of the field of 63 early on but worked his waysteadily through the back half and clocked 3h 55m 03s on a hot London morning.
He was one of several walkers who needed assistance on crossing the finish line and was wheeled off to be checked out by medical officials.
The course at The Mall comprised 25 2km laps, passing Buckingham Palace.
Russian and Chinese walkers were prominent throughout and Russian police officer Sergey Kirdyapkin won in an Olympic record time of 3h 35m 59s, clipping 1m 10s off the old mark of disgraced Italian drug cheat Alex Schwazer in 2008.
Kirdyapkin, twice a world champion in the event, did not finish the race at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Australian Jared Tallent finished strongly to win the silver 55s behind Kirdyapkin, with China's Si Tianfeng getting bronze in 3h 37m 16s.
Slow motion television coverage of the leading bunch showed just about all breaking the rule about keeping part of at least one foot on the ground at all times.
