Tokyo, July 26 (BNA): Norway's Kristian Blummenfelt raced away from his fellow competitors in the final stages of the Tokyo Olympic triathlon on Monday to win gold.

Blummenfelt, 27, in his second Olympic Games, sprinted away in the final stages of the 10km run, crossing the line with a time of 1:45:04, Deutsche press agency (dpa) reported.

The Norwegian collapsed shortly after crossing the finish line and had to be helped into a wheelchair to leave the area.

He felt he would win gold when he was "standing on the pontoon ready to go," Blummenfelt said.

"I wanted a medal, obviously I preferred the gold medal, everything else I would have been disappointed with," Blummenfelt said.

"I’m just extremely relieved to have it around my neck now."

The 27-year-old, who finished 13th in Rio, becomes the first person representing Norway to win a Olympic triathlon medal.

Britain's Alex Yee, 23, picked up silver, while New Zealand's Hayden Wilde, 23, claimed bronze. Both were competing in their first Games.

An emotional Wilde burst into tears during his first televised interview with Sky Sports following the race.

"It is pretty unreal. I have been in sport for nearly four years, so it's a dream come true."

Belgium's Martin Van Riel placed fourth, a two-place improvement on his sixth position in Rio.

One of the race favourites, Britain's Jonny Brownlee, was bidding for his third successive Olympic medal having won bronze in London and silver in Rio, but had to settle for fifth.

"I think I’ve been very, very fortunate in my two Olympic Games, I’ve had two medals."

Brownlee will compete in the mixed relay event on Saturday but Tokyo would be his final Olympic Games, he said.

"It’s hard to perform and I’ve performed well in three [Olympic Games]."

The triathlon got off to a chaotic start as a camera boat blocked part of the field from beginning the 1.5-kilometre swim. Following the swim the athletes tackled a 40km cycle and 10km run.

H.F.