Rio 2016 Olympics: Alistair Brownlee wins triathlon gold, brother Jonathan takes silver
:focal(178x132:180x130)/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2023/04/03/3673848-74785904-310-310.jpg)
Updated 18/08/2016 at 16:48 GMT
Britain's Alistair Brownlee defended his Olympic triathlon title in style in Rio as brother Jonathan took silver in yet another stunning domination of the event.
Alistair Brownlee (GBR) of Britain and Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) of Britain celebrate winning the Rio triathlon
Image credit: Reuters
The Brownlee brothers dictated the race from the outset and pulled away with eight other riders during the cycle to take pre-event favourite Mario Mola out of contention.
Alistair was the one who ruled the run to take gold and defend his Olympic title with brother Jonathan able to take silver just behind him in sweltering conditions.
The 28-year-old became the first man ever to successfully defend an Olympic triathlon title and he did so in some style, walking over the line having comprehensively defeated his rivals.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2016/08/18/1914691-40289581-2560-1440.jpg)
Alistair Brownlee (GBR) of Great Britain, Dmitry Polyanskiy (RUS) of Russia, Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) of Great Britain and Henri Schoeman (RSA) of South Africa compete
Image credit: Reuters
It was another incredible triumph for the brothers from Yorkshire at a second successive Olympic Games with ruthless execution from the attack in the cycle onwards.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2016/08/18/1914710-40289961-2560-1440.jpg)
Alistair Brownlee (GBR) of Great Britain and Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) of Great Britain compete in the Rio triathlon
Image credit: Reuters
Alistair crossed the line in a time of 1:45.01 with 26-year-old Jonathan six seconds behind. Henri Schoeman of South Africa took the bronze medal.
For Jonathan, who led for most of the cycle before falling behind his brother midway through the 10k run, it was an upgrade on his bronze medal at London 2012.
Alistair's gold medal was Britain's 20th of the Games and one which cemented his status as the greatest male triathlete of all time.
'Jonny has killed me in training'
"I was pretty confident we would get first and second but I didn't know which way round it would be," Alistair told the BBC.
"I just had the edge on Jonny but he has killed me in training and I have been going through hell. It has been so hard. I have woken up in pain every day.
"The swim wasn't that quick but we knew the first two laps on the bike would be crucial. The last few weeks we have been training to commit and, boy, we did.
"As soon as we got to halfway I knew we were going to get two medals and it was just a run for it."
Scan me
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement