ITU rejects Spanish Triathlon Federation appeal to disqualify Jonny Brownlee
The International Triathlon Union has rejected an appeal by the Spanish Triathlon Federation to disqualify Jonny Brownlee for accepting assistance to get over the line, citing a rule which states athletes may accept help.
And in an interview on the ITU website, newly-crowned champion Mola admitted the dramatic circumstances of his victory took some of the shine off his success.
Mola said: “First of all this was not how I wanted to win the world championship. Luckily I was able to be in the top five considering Jonny didn’t win the race.
“To be honest I was already considering that the role of AIistair was to help Jonny. Considering that, I thought, well, I’m going to be second again, but at least I will fight to the end.
“And when I heard Jonny isn’t feeling well, I thought, ‘I need to fight to the end’. We want everyone to be safe after the finish line. It’s not the way I wanted it, but that’s triathlon.”