It was a lifetime of work, packed into four ferocious hours, and at the end of it Brendan Boyce had his just reward. Sixth in the world in the 50km race walk, an event that seems to encapsulate his very existence.

With temperatures only ever hitting a low of 29.5C during the four-hour slog, the Donegal walker was never lower than 19th as a field of 46 produced 28 finishers – 14 of whom were forced to drop out during the longest event in the programme.