Run off his feet: Triathlon heartbreak as Jonathan Brownlee loses world crown

There was an agonising moment when Jonathan Brownlee realised he had lost his coveted world triathlon title by one second.
Jonathan Brownlee of Great Britain lies on the ground after finishing secondJonathan Brownlee of Great Britain lies on the ground after finishing second
Jonathan Brownlee of Great Britain lies on the ground after finishing second

The 23-year-old defending world champion from Bramhope, Leeds, ran himself into the ground after a 1,500m swim, 40 kilometre bike ride and punishing 10,000 metre ride became a straight duel between Brownlee and his great rival Javier Gomez, the Olympic silver medallist.

Both knew the victor would be crowned world champion and both tried to break the spirit and resolve of their opponent with a series of lung-busting surges in London’s Hyde Park. Finally the Yorkshireman appeared to have a winning lead – before the Spaniard fought back to snatch the title on the line after a compelling one hour, 48 minutes and 16 minutes of sport at its most brutal.

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“I gave it everything but there was nothing I could do,” said a despondent Brownlee.

During the tortuous dash to the finish on the rain-lashed Olympic course, Brownlee was implored by his gesticulating 25-year-old brother Alistair – last summer’s hero – to be patient.

When he heard Gomez had won in the final strides, there was no sympathy. A “complete tactical numpty” was the elder brother’s reaction once he had hobbled across the finishing line after aggravating a longstanding ankle injury at the start of the run. Only guts carried him to the conclusion of an injury-hit season that he described as “a complete nightmare”.

As the Brownlee brothers prepare to recuperate by climbing the 5,895 metres to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, they will draw some comfort from training partner Non Stanford’s gutsy win that saw her become women’s world triathlon champion for the first time.

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