Brownlees’ brotherly banter underscores their ‘team’ ethic

“I suppose it feels strange,” begins Alistair, the Olympic triathlon champion.

“You have four years coming up to this point and at 24 I never thought in a million years I’d be at a point where I’ve achieved everything I wanted to achieve...”

“You haven’t been world sprint champion yet,” counters Jonny, 22, the Olympic bronze medallist, whose reign in the shorter distance over the last two years will be preserved as the triathlon sprint in Stockholm later this month is not for a global title.

“I’ll for ever be the one and only two-time world sprint champion and that’s a title Alistair can never have.”

“I never dreamed of being that, though,” Alistair counters.

“You should have done,” comes the response.

And so the mood continues, Olympic champion and bronze medallist sat together in the BT Tower in London as if its their front room in Bramhope.

They are blessed to be able to share this glory together.

“That has been incredible,” says Alistair.

“If I’d have won and Jonny had not got on the podium, or the other way around, it would have been slightly tarnished.

“We set our stall out a year ago of we wanted to achieve. If we hadn’t have achieved that it would have been a let-down.

“The first stage was meeting that goal, we’ve done that, and it’s just been brilliant since.”

Since Tuesday’s crowning moment in Hyde Park they have hardly had time to draw breath.

Sponsors’ commitments, parties, trips to the stadium, celebrations and even a glorious homecoming to their home city of Leeds tonight have consumed them.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” says Jonny, 22.

“We just haven’t had time to sit down even for half an hour to think about what we have achieved. It’s been non-stop.”

Alistair takes up the conversation: “It’s strange for me just saying I’m Olympic champion.

“Maybe when I get home and sit down for all of 10 minutes and decide I want to be busy again it will sink in.”

Alistair’s over-riding emotion at having completed his ambition is one of contentment.

While Jonny heads to Stockholm on Saturday week to continue his attempt to win the world series and so complete a unique world and Olympic double for the Brownlee family, Alistair plans to head to California to broaden his horizons.

London’s gold medallist cannot win a third world title because of the injury he suffered at the start of the year so will try his hand at the Des Moines Triathlon which offers rich reward to its winners and also tests their ability to cycle in a time trial rather than a drafting procedure.

“I’m very aware that it would be good to try different things, just for my sake really,” says Alistair. It’s about different challenges.

“I’d love to have a crack at seeing if I can run a 10k fast enough to be able to run it on the track at the Commonwealth Games.”

Even before returning home the brothers know that their Bramhope house has already been inundated with letters and fan mail.

They are also being recognised more often, with Alistair snapped by the papparazi innocently coming out of a London bar with another Yorkshire medallist Lizzie Armitstead.

Already though the brothers have devised a way to outfox the public.

“We know we’ll get stopped if we’re walking together,” says Alistair. “And expecially in our GB tracksuits.

“We were late to the Olympic Stadium the other night and just wanted to get there and we kept getting stopped. It’s hard to say no to people who want photos.

“So we decided to walk apart because when we do that we don’t get recognised.

“I think we’re both looking forward to getting back to Leeds and it hopefully dying down.

“Neither of us are the people who did this in the first place for fame, we do it to be the best of what you can be.”

Something these two admirable young men have certainly accomplished.