Exhausted Brownlee upstaged as younger brother Jonny makes his mark

ALISTAIR BROWNLEE'S winning run in triathlon's World Championship Series came to an end in dramatic fashion in London yesterday.

The 22-year-old from Leeds was in the leading trio heading into the final stages of the run but, clearly exhausted, eventually staggered over the line in 10th place before being rushed to the medical tent.

Heather Williams, performance director of British Triathlon, quickly allayed fears about Brownlee's health, saying: "Alistair is fine but exhausted. There is no cause for concern."

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However, a bad day for the reigning world champion, who had won all six WCS races he had contested going into yesterday's event in Hyde Park, turned out to be a brilliant one for his younger brother Jonny, who finished second behind Spain's Javier Gomez to earn his first major senior medal.

The 20-year-old said: "I'm shocked. I got to the front at the start of the run and the first lap of the run I thought, 'what am I doing here?'

"I just said to myself, 'stay here for half a lap, stay here for one lap, stay here for two laps, stay here for two-and-a-half laps,' and then I just hung on, and I thought, 'I'm going to get a medal here'.

"Then I came past Alistair, and I was so tired I didn't really notice.

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I felt sorry for Alistair because he's a great champion but these things happen. Javier was amazing, his surge towards the end of the run was so strong."

There was no sign of the drama to come when Alistair Brownlee, last year's Hyde Park champion, led the way out of the swim despite losing his goggles.

The finance student missed the start of the season with a femoral stress fracture but won on his return in Madrid before emphatically beating Gomez at the European Championships to prove he was back on top form.

Brownlee initially held a lead on the bike phase but quickly settled back into a large group that also contained his brother and all the main contenders.

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A number of athletes attempted to break away but it was not until the final stages that a group of seven, also including Britain's Stuart Hayes, managed to build a gap.

They held a lead of more than 30 seconds going into the run but that was quickly cut by the Brownlee brothers, who immediately surged to the front of the main pack.

Gomez and Olympic champion Jan Frodeno were the only two who were able to stay with the pair, with the latter subsequently slipping backwards as it became a leading trio.

It was a familiar position for the older Brownlee and Gomez but this time it was the Spaniard, the winner in Hamburg last week, who made the decisive break.

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Jonny Brownlee managed to hang on to take silver ahead of Frodeno his exhausted brother wobbled down the finishing straight.

Gomez, 27, was thrilled to claim his first victory in London after crashing on the bike phase last year.

He said: "It's something special.

"The Olympic Games are going to be here in 2012 and it's a great place for triathlon.

"It was a really hard race with all the best athletes in the world racing.

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"Both Brownlees are great champions so it was very difficult to beat them but I'm really happy with my performance today.

"It's amazing to win two weekends in a row in the World Championship Series. I gave everything I had.

"I didn't look back until the last 200 metres when I realised I was running by myself – it was a great feeling."

Gomez also paid tribute to the runner-up, saying: "I knew he was really, really good. He needed a good Olympic distance race and finally he got it so I'm really happy for him."

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Hayes' surge on the bike helped him to a top-10 position in eighth while Tim Don, third in Hamburg, was the fourth of the home athletes across the line in 13th.

Will Clarke made the top 20 but Olly Freeman had to settle for 38th.

Third was enough for Frodeno to hold onto first place in the WCS rankings, with Gomez moving up to second thanks to his victory.

Alistair Brownlee is 14th but his hopes of retaining his world title were already over after injury prevented him racing in one of the two races outside Europe.

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Britain's Helen Jenkins made the podium for the second year in a row in the women's race on Saturday behind surprise winner Paula Findlay.

The Canadian pulled away from the leading group in the final stages of the run to finish three seconds ahead of last year's winner Nicola Spirig, with Jenkins holding off New Zealand's Andrea Hewitt to take third.

Jenkins, who matched her result in Hyde Park last year having also finished third in her last two races, emerged from the swim among the leading pack and pushed the pace on the bike and the run.

On a good day for Britain, Vicky Holland finished sixth, one place ahead of Jodie Swallow.

Bridgend athlete Jenkins said: "I kind of wish it was second or first but it's fantastic in front of a home crowd."