Newcastle's Aaron Royle has finished 26th in the men's triathlon race at the Olympic Games in Tokyo on Monday.
In hot and humid conditions at Odaiba Marine Park, Royle worked his way through the field to be as high as second midway through the endurance event but eventually fell back.
The 31-year-old, competing at his second Olympics after debuting with a ninth in Rio in 2016, clocked an overall time of one hour, 47 minutes and 57 seconds for the 1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10km run.
Following a false start from multiple athletes, he was 34th out of the water in 18:09.
Royle made a move during the ride, one off the leader after 20km on the bike, but was placed 21st as part of a large group after the second leg.
He dropped to 29th after the first of four laps on the run, but picked up three spots.
Royle was 2:53 behind gold medalist Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway.
Great Britain's Alex Yee and New Zealand's Hayden Wilde rounded out the podium.
Royle's Aussie teammates Jake Birtwhistle and Matt Hauser were 16th and 24th respectively.
The newly introduced mixed relay is scheduled for Saturday.
