Rivalry helps Brownlee brothers secure top two spots in the world

The Yorkshire-born pair went into Saturday’s season-ending Grand Final in Beijing separated by just 120 points, and it was Alistair, the eldest brother by two years, who crossed the line first in a time of one hour, 48 minutes and seven seconds.

Crossing the line first helped him secure a second world championship title and, although Jonathan was pipped to second place on the day by Sven Riederer, he still finished in the silver medal position overall.

The Brownlees made their intentions clear from the off and were the first out of the water following the swim, with Jonathan Brownlee marginally ahead of his sibling and Russian duo Ivan Vasiliev and Alexander Bryukhankov not far behind.

One man who did not make it from the water to the bike, though, was Olympic champion Jan Frodeno, who was caught on the back of the head during the swim.

Both Brownlees maintained their position at the head of the pack during the 40-kilometre ride, with the gap between the lead group and the chasing pack over a minute come the end of it.

Once off the bikes, the brothers moved clear of the field at the start of the run, with Javier Gomez, Riederer and Bryukhankov working hard to stay with them, before Alistair dropped Jonathan close to home as the younger brother began to tire.

He was eventually passed by Riederer but still had enough points come the end to make second place his own overall, with Riederer finishing seven seconds behind his victorious brother, while he came in 20 seconds behind.

The winner’s time shaved 50 seconds off the one Frodeno won gold in on the same course in 2008, while trimming nearly two minutes off his own from three years ago.

“It was nice and cold and wet which I enjoyed,” said Alistair Brownlee afterwards. “The swim was easy, Jonny took me to the front.

“We knew the bike was going to be dangerous and it was vital we made sure that no-one got away.

“On the running I thought I would run away with it, but at times it was like running like treacle. I knew that Jonny wasn’t feeling too good and I had planned to stay with him, but I had to go.”

His younger brother shared his older sibling’s sense of struggle, adding: “It’s a first senior world championship for me and I am really pleased to finish second.

“I didn’t feel my best today. It’s a tough course. I was first out of the swim, which I’ve not done before, but I was tired during the run and I’m pleased I held on to third today.

“It was a hard race out there.”

Alistair ended the season with 4285 points, while Jonathan was on 3992. Spain’s Javier Gomez made up the podium, having come into the tournament as the reigning champion.

With the season over, the next event is in Yokohama later this month and counts towards the 2012 Championships, with the Brownlee brothers’ participation not confirmed.

Jenkins makes it weekend to savour for GB

Great Britain’s Helen Jenkins secured her second ITU World Championship title after finishing second in the grand final in Beijing to claim victory in the overall series.

Heading into the grand final, Jenkins only needed to make the podium to clinch her second title and her second-placed finish behind New Zealand’s Andrea Hewitt was enough as she finished the season with a total of 4032 points.

Jenkins, who won her first World Championship in 2008, joins other double winners such as Emma Carney, Michellie Jones, Karen Smyers and Emma Moffatt.

Hewitt captured the race title with a time of one hour 58.26 minutes.

The New Zealander’s efforts, combined with the withdrawal of Paula Findlay on the bike stage as well as Barbara Riveros Diaz falling off the pace in the run, saw Hewitt move into the overall silver medal position with 3836 points.

Switzerland’s Melanie Annaheim captured her first series medal as she outsprinted her rivals for third in the race with Sarah Groff’s 10th place enough for bronze over the season.

Jenkins’s victory added to the success enoyed by the Brownlee brothers in the men’s event.

Jenkins said: “I’m so pleased just to win the world champs again, it’s amazing.

“It would have been awesome to take the win here, but, at the end I just didn’t have it in me.”

British Triathlon’s Olympic programme manager Malcolm Brown was impressed by his team’s overall performance.

“There have been some outstanding individual performances, and even those who have been having a bad day have flogged themselves for every position,” he said. It’s been an uplifting experience.

“It’s exactly the sort of position you’d want to be in going into an Olympic year.”