Yorkshire’s Brownlee brothers in triathlon glory

Britain had never even won a medal in the sport before but Alistair went into the race as the defending champion and hot favourite having dominated triathlon over the last four years.

Jonny had been tipped for silver but had to give way to Spain’s Javier Gomez, while the Yorkshireman’s hopes were not helped by a penalty for getting on his bike too early.

Richard Varga led out the swim in the Serpentine with the Brownlees, who have been training alongside the Slovakian, in close attendance.

They came out of the water in fourth and sixth but it was two-time world champion Gomez who shot off on the bike and a group of five, including both of the brothers, quickly formed.

The third member of the British team, Stuart Hayes, had a good swim, coming out of the water in eighth, but he was not able to make the break and ended up in the second group.

There was heartbreak for Canada’s flag-bearer Simon Whitfield, the Olympic champion in Sydney and the silver medallist in Beijing, as he crashed very early on the first lap and was forced to pull out.

By the end of the first lap the front group had a lead of 20 seconds but that gradually came down and on the third lap they were caught.

That allowed Hayes to move to the front and take up his job as the Brownlees’ domestique, but Jonny’s hopes of a medal were hit when it was confirmed he would need to serve a 15-second penalty.

Alistair tried to jump away on the sixth lap but Jonny did not go with him and he was quickly reeled back in.

The pair were second and third into transition and immediately headed out at the front of the run, but Gomez went with them.

The Spaniard, the world champion in 2008 and 2010, missed out on a medal in Beijing in a race he went into as the big favourite and was determined to make amends.

He has seen the Brownlees pull away from him over the past couple of years after winning in Hyde Park in 2010 but the flat course levelled the playing field a bit and he was looking very strong.

By the end of the first lap, the trio already had a 17-second advantage over the rest, but at the start of the third lap it was Jonny who could no longer handle the pace and he dropped back.

And shortly afterwards the gap began to open between Alistair and Gomez, the Spaniard no longer able to live with the Leeds athlete’s incredible speed.

Jonny took his penalty on the third lap and came out still in third place, with French duo David Hauss and Laurent Vidal still some way behind.

Alistair gradually extended his gap and had time to collect a Union Flag before walking across the finish line, with Jonny finishing well clear in third but some way behind Gomez.

Jonny was taken to the medical room after crossing the finishing line having appeared to overexert himself in his successful medal quest.

The medal ceremony was therefore delayed while he received treatment.

After the race Alistair gave an update on his brother’s condition, and told BBC2: “He’s fine.

“Triathlon is a tough sport and we’ve both been in that position.

“I think it was deceptively hard today, obviously it was fast but with this hot, humid, muggy kind of day, it dehydrates you and overheats you and I think he was probably just right on the edge at the finish like you are normally and that probably tipped him just towards the edge at the end.”

He added: “That race was just unbelievable, I felt in control right from the start and the crowds, I dont think I’ve ever come across anything anywhere near like that and I don’t think I will ever again.

“I think my ears are still ringing from all that noise and it was absolutely amazing.

“I’m massively proud, it’s been talked about so much that Great Britain haven’t won a medal in triathlon and favourites don’t win gold medals, so the pressure was stacked up with so many firsts and so many folklores put to bed today and I think that’s great.

“To get two of us, two brothers, two British brothers on the podium is absolutely... you couldn’t ask for anymore.”

He was also quick to praise the contribution of domestique Hayes.

“We truly were a team of three going in there today,” he said. “We worked hard, we’ve had a great six weeks training together and we worked out a great plan for this and executed it really really well today.”

Alistair showed his emotions at the end and he admitted the importance of a home Games had got to him in the build up.

“I was relieved to finish, you usually are in a triathlon because it’s two hours long you’re quite tired at the end,” he joked.

“But as much as I try and say it’s the Olympics and try to make it like any other race, it’s not any other race, I’ve been watching all the sports for the last 10 days and I was just so excited to start.

“I wasn’t even nervous I was like a kid at Christmas again, I was just so excited to come out and race, it’s great to come out and race and obviously I got the result I wanted.”

Jonny could possibly have grabbed a silver had it not been for his penalty and his brother was highly critical of the system that de-railed his bid.

“We knew he had a penalty early on in the bike and I was telling ‘him Jonny don’t worry about it calm down, you can still easily get on the podium with a 15-second penalty’,” he said.

“And so I took the first lap of the run out really hard to try and get Jonny as far away from the others as I can and obviously Gomez was having a great race today and there’s not much we can do about that.

“I’ve never been a fan of these penalties at the best of times I think they’re ruining the sport of triathlon with it.

“It’s not about giving people penalties, it’s not about official decisions whether they should get 15 seconds or not.

“Jonny didn’t even know what he’d done until half way round the bike and we saw it on the board.”