Brendan Boyce finishes 24th in the 35km walk in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest

Brendan Boyce came home in 24th place in the men's 35km walk at the World Championships in Budapest, with victory going to Alvaro Martin of Spain.

In warm, early-morning conditions in the Hungarian capital, Boyce clocked 2:37.26, which outside his PB of 2:32.49 that he set at the Irish Open Championships in December 2021. The Finn Valley AC athlete has been competing over the 35k distance following the abolition of the 50k competition after the Tokyo Olympics.

Martin's victory added to the gold medal he won in the 20km event last weekend.

After early leader Aurelien Quinion of France had dropped off the pace and was then disqualified, Martin shared the lead with Ecuador's Brian Pintado and Japan's Masatora Kawano entering the final 4km.

Martin made the break with less than 2km remaining and crossed the line in two hours, 24 minutes and 30 seconds, four seconds before Pintado.

Kawano posted a season's best of 2:25:12 to finish third, while defending champion Massimo Stano of Italy was seventh with 2:25:59