Saving lives all that matters

SAYS GOLD MEDAL ACE ALISTAIR BROWNLEE

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NEVER has Yorkshire felt more like home sweet home for double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee.

Britain’s star triathlete was 5,000 miles away at a training camp on Monday when foreign secretary Dominic Raab instructed UK travellers overseas to “come home now while you still can”.

Brownlee, in the United States with brother Jonny, was inside the Olympic bubble, chasing his dream in water and on land as he had before winning gold in London and Rio.

With Olympic chiefs insisting that no decision on the Games would be taken for another month, the pair ploughed on.

Even private concerns that Alistair had come a little too close for comfort to a coronavirus hotspot, when competing in Spain earlier this month, could not derail him.

Such is the total dedication of the Olympic athlete and it explains why Tuesday’s postponement came not a moment too soon for all those aiming to be big in Japan. Brownlee said: “Jonny and I were in New Mexico training when the call was made. When we heard it was off, coupled with the Foreign Office advice to get home quick, we scrambled. It wasn’t easy to get a flight and we started to stress a bit.

“Fortunately we made it back but had they not been postponed when they were we would have been stuck there.

“Another month would have made things a hell of a lot worse.

“Inevitably people would be taking risks with their health to train and increasing the likelihood of being exposed to the virus.

“In fairness to the IOC, the situation is changing so fast. What is going on today seemed inconceivable two weeks ago.

“This is very much the right decision. It really would have been the wrong message to have an Olympic Games when the world is fighting to save lives.

“When so many people are losing their lives, or are very close to losing their lives, it’s the principle isn’t it? We have to make a priority of saving lives.”

Out of harm’s way, the 31-year old has hunkered down at home and begun a period of isolation to make sure he has not brought anything unwanted back with him.