COMMENTATORS echoed the thoughts of millions around the world when they screamed out for somebody to help distressed Scotland marathon runner Callum Hawkins.

Their cries fell on deaf ears as Hawkins was left crumpled on the side of a bridge on the Gold Coast less than 2km short of the finish line in the men’s marathon on Sunday.

The gold medal was his. He had been more than two minutes in front of Aussie Michael Shelley in second spot.

Hawkins had just minutes earlier lost control of his legs as he ran along the road before eventually collapsing onto a grassy patch.

He did not move for more than a minute.

He eventually got back to his feet in an incredibly gutsy effort, but was soon wobbling all over the course again.

Hawkins eventually crashed into the railing on the side of a Gold Coast bridge less than 2km out from what would have been a gold medal.

As he lay crumpled on the ground a group of spectators were spotted talking to him.

According to a report an official informed the spectators not to try and assist the distressed runner — believing medical support was on its way.

The issue was further complicated by the rules of the race which would have seen Hawkins disqualified if he received any assistance.

Help didn’t arrive.

The 25-year-old was left lying on the ground unattended for several minutes.

Even as Shelley ran past him with concern all over his face — there was still no medical attention forthcoming.

Still the spectators were told to watch on.

Eventually medical officials made it to Hawkins’ position on the bridge.

It was too little too late for many commentators.

Channel 7 commentator and Aussie athletics great Tamsyn Lewis said the rules of the sport should have been thrown out after witnessing Hawkins unable to move.

She said the spectators should have helped him.

“People should help him,” she said.

“I think now is the time. An athlete works all their life to win gold medals. But there is one thing more important than that, his health. He should be assisted now.

“He will have family at home who can see this. So they need to know the medical staff will help him.”

McAvaney said officials should have tried to stop Hawkins from trying to run on after he collapsed the first time.

“He is on autopilot. He was done three minutes ago,” McAvaney said.

“He has gotten back into, not a rhythm, he is still wobbling everywhere, the mind is working so hard but the legs are just getting along. You would think he is clearheaded enough that if you can just keep going a bit longer he will get a gold medal.

“He needs to think of himself and his health first.

“This is distressing. Incredibly distressing. He needs some help. Somebody please come and help him.”

‘NOT IN THE SPIRIT’ OF THE GAMES

Gold Coast 2018 chief executive Mark Peters said it was the understanding of officials that Hawkins had a conversation with marshals about whether he wanted medical assistance or not.

After the conversation finished, no medical assistance was provided.

“You can’t have medical people on every kilometre of the roads,” Peters said.

“They are professionally positioned the same as we do with our Gold Coast marathon where we have 30,000 people. We are looking for more information. Obviously the health of the athlete is prime.

“Sometimes the medical people arrive too and you have to make a decision whether they want to go on or not. And I understand that was part of a discussion at some point in time. Because incredibly athletes in whatever state they are in want to finish and we’ve seen that in other marathons.”

Peters also said in a statement officials were only able to provide assistance when Hawkins eventually requested it.

He also hit out at some of the spectators on the bridge for taking photos, saying their actions were “not in the spirit” of the Games.

“I like many others was distressed to see a wonderful athlete like Callum collapse during the closing stages of today’s Marathon,” Peters said.

“We are offering every assistance possible to Callum and Team Scotland.

“GOLDOC has put in place a wide range of measures to ensure athlete welfare and the response of medical staff this morning was within agreed response guidelines and timeframes.

“I was also concerned about the behaviour of a small number of bystanders who chose to take images. This is not in keeping with the spirit of GC2018.”

He said medical staff had been placed strategically every 500m along the marathon route and had radios to respond to medical aid requests when they were made.

A Scotland team official has told the BBC no medical support was forthcoming because Hawkins was desperate to avoid being disqualified.

The report claims Hawkins “initially refused medical treatment after collapsing” — fearing it would cost him the gold medal.

‘HE CRAWLED ON THE GROUND FOR 2-3 MINUTES’

The Gold Coast Bulletin has reported spectators tried to help Hawkins, only for the struggling runner to wave them away in a desperate attempt to avoid being disqualified.

Southport man Rodney and daughter Annalise West tried to help the 25-year-old but he wouldn’t let anyone touch him.

“He crawled around on the ground for two or three minutes,” Mr West said.

Mr West asked the volunteers to move their umbrella to shade the struggling athlete.

“They had to clear it with officials to move it off the bridge and over the runner,” he said.

He said he was surprised it took so long for officials to come to the aid of Hawkins considering he was leading the race.

Callum’s older brother Derek Hawkins — who competed at the Rio Olympics — said his brother is doing “alright” in hospital.

Team Scotland also issued a statement on Sunday afternoon confirming Hawkins is being monitored in hospital and has been talking with his family.

“We are very pleased to report that Callum is sitting up and speaking with his dad and Team Scotland medical staff,” the statement read.

“He is undergoing further tests as a precaution and we all wish him a speedy recovery.”

HORRIBLE HEAT TOUGH FOR ALL

Hawkins was not the only victim of the searing 30C morning heat on the Gold Coast with Uganda’s Munyo Solomon Mutai also suffering in the final 5km.

Mutai had been in the bronze medal position before he suddenly pulled up.

Channel 7’s Bruce McAvaney had said he looked “disorientated” just a few seconds before the runner stopped and bent over with his hands on his knees.

Mutai was allowed to run on despite his condition and continued on to win silver more than two minutes behind Shelley.

Just 17 of the 25 competitors in the men’s event were able to finish the race. It comes after criticism that the men’s race was scheduled too late in the day.

The men’s marathon began at 8.15am — more than two hours after the men’s and women’s T54 marathon runners had started their races.

The later finish saw Shelley cross the finish after 10.30am — many runners didn’t cross the finish line until 11am.

Earlier, when Hawkins first collapsed, McAvaney labelled his condition “completely and utterly distressed”.

“Can you believe this? Callum Hawkins who has demolished this field is completely and utterly distressed,” McAvaney said.

“What we’re seeing is hard to watch. Very difficult to watch.”

Lewis said: “Oh no! He is in trouble. He needs help.”

Shelley told Channel 7 after the race he had to try and block out the moment he ran past Hawkins to try and focus on his own condition.

“I was not sure what was going on,” he said.

“A couple of mates told me that Callum Hawkins was in trouble. They might have just been trying to encourage me but then I saw him on the bridge and I was aware he was in trouble but I just tried to hang on. On the home straight, as you can see, I tried to accelerate but I was gone as well. I’m glad to finish, to be honest.

“I was getting cramps earlier than I expected. I tried to run my race. I got the sponges every 2km, 2.5km, made sure I got as much drink as I could and just try to push on.”