Flagging Brownlees run out
ALISTAIR Brownlee had warned Jonny there would be no brotherly love as they vied for England’s first gold medal of the Games. What nobody expected was that both could have done with a helping hand as their triathlon challenge was blown away on a stormy afternoon. Jonny could finish only seventh with Alistair, the two-time Olympic champion, 10th for arguably the worst joint performance of their medal-laden careers.
Defending champion Alistair led the field through the swim and bike legs. But as soon as he set off on the final 5km run he fell off the pace as an injury-hit build-up took its toll. “About three-quarters of it went right,” he said. “I knew I would struggle on the run.
“My main priority in the last two weeks has been making sure my calf held up so I could get round OK.”
Alistair had proudly carried the England flag at Wednesday’s opening ceremony but it was the South African standard that was raised the highest at the Southport Broadwater Parklands. Henri Schoeman, bronze medallist behind the brothers in Rio, won in 52mins 31secs ahead of Jacob Birtwhistle of Australia, with Scotland’s Marc Austin third.
Jonny Brownlee revealed afterwards that he had suffered a thigh problem in January.
“That was pretty terrible,” he said. “As soon as I dived in I felt pretty weak.”
Jess Learmonth won silver for England in the women’s race behind Bermuda’s Flora Duffy.