The 23-year-old crossed the line in 1 hour 19 minutes and 42 seconds to finish behind Russian winner Valeriy Borchin, who gave his country its first-ever walking Olympic gold medal.

AIS and Australian Luke Adams finished sixth.

Tallent was physicallly sick as he crossed the line to claim bronze.

'I was actually spewing up down the front straight,' Tallent said.

'I came into the tunnel and the Chinese Wang Hao was catching and I just had to put it in.'

'As soon as I did that it just started to come up. I was struggling to hold it in; as soon as I crossed the line I just had to let it all out.'

Tallent paid special credit to his coach Brent Vallance (AIS) and the Institute’s Sports Science Sport Medicine facility in helping him win an Olympic medal.

'I couldn’t have achieved this Olympic bronze medal without the help of Brent who has been tireless in making sure my preparation was spot on,' Tallent said.

'The AIS has been incredible in its support too.'

'I have spent a lot of time in the Institute’s humidity tent on the treadmill training in 33 degrees heat trying to acclimatise for the 20km race.'

'It certainly paid off because the conditions were very hot out there with a number of the competitors feeling the heat.'

AIS Director Professor Peter Fricker was equally as proud and paid tribute to the athlete’s persistence and determination.

'This result is an outstanding success for Jarred, his coach Brent and for the AIS athletics program,' Fricker said

'Jarred’s bronze medal is a real testament to his personal commitment to his sport and the training program here at the AIS.’

The Australian Institute of Sport was established in 1981, and has consistently contributed to Australia’s outstanding sporting performance on the world stage.

The Australian Olympic team in Beijing consists of 433 athletes. Of these, there are 262 current or former AIS athletes.