GOLD medallist Giaan Rooney has joined the celebrity casualty ward after taking a tumble and passing out at a friend's wedding.

The former Olympic swimmer has been forced to pull out of her debut catwalk parade at the LMFF Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival today after she collapsed and shattered a glass door. Rooney was rushed by ambulance to hospital but has since been released.

"I had a very embarrassing tumble which resulted in my being very battered and bruised," she said.

"I have a big egg on my head, cuts on my face and my nose is twice the size as normal. I'm certainly not catwalk material."

Rooney said she developed a bad chest infection in Vancouver, Canada, where she was a Winter Olympics presenter for Channel 9.

"I didn't realise how bad it was but the medics said my blood pressure was really low, which is why I passed out," she said.

Rooney, who is an ambassador for Jockey underwear, was meant to make her catwalk debut at today's Unzipped sexy smalls show.

Still taking to the runway is her fellow Vancouver TV presenter Ruby Rose who happily caught up with Jennifer Hawkins on Monday at Myer's autumn/winter collection launch.