Rio Olympics: Great Britain's Brownlee brothers take gold, silver in triathlon
- by Grant Boone
- in Sports
- — Aug 19, 2016
While the best chances for a medal in the Olympics triathlon come from the United States women, it is worth mentioning that 2012 London Olympics triathlon gold medalist Alistair Brownlee from Great Britain is returning to defend his gold medal at the Rio games.
And since he knew he had a huge lead, he slowed down near the finish line, and took in the spectacle while crossing it.
They are the first brothers to finish one and two at an Olympics since Italian horse riders Piero and Raimondo D'Inzeo in Rome in 1960.
Behind the smiles on the ultimate family portrait, however, is a story of staggering commitment, not just since their London success but for their entire lives.
On the win, Alistair said: "Every day has been so hard". We trained to really commit and we really committed today. "And I thought "here we go again", he lamented. They included Alistair and Jonny Brownlee, Ben Kanute (USA), Vincent Luis (FRA), Aaron Royle (AUS) Richard Varga (SVK) Alessandro Fabian (ITA), Andrea Salvisberg (AUT), Henri Schoeman (RSA), and Marten Van Riel (BEL).
For men who like to grab their training by the throat, it was hard to ease their way back.
Her husband said: "We've seen the inside of rescue tents all over the world, so we were just praying that they stayed upright". During the swimming and on the bike we can help each other tactically and when it gets to the run there's not an terrible lot you can do.
In the run-up to the event the brothers had claimed they preferred Rio's challenging course to the flatter London equivalent of 2012, and they hammered their way through Rio's twisting, undulating circuit.
The brothers delivered a textbook performance after coming out of the 1.5km sea swim off Copacabana beach and controlling the 40km bike leg. "In training we both appreciate how big an advantage it is".
Jonny has beaten his bigger brother occasionally, though usually on shorter sprint distances, and had real hope of topping the podium on the back of their recent training experiences.
Shortly after hitting the halfway point of the run, the elder Brownlee decided it was time to say goodbye to his younger brother and put in a surge to open up a 50-meter gap within only a few seconds. He's had the edge to be honest, so I wasn't quite sure (who would win). They then ran shoulder to shoulder before Alistair stamped his authority on the race by diving clear on the third lap.
