It was a natural human reaction – Alistair Brownlee gives up chance to win triathlon and helps brother over line
A dazed Jonny Brownlee was helped over the line by his brother Alistair, who shunned the chance to win the race to come to the aid of his younger sibling in a dramatic end to the World Triathlon Series in Cozumel, Mexico.
The younger Brownlee needed to win the race and Mola finish no higher than fourth, and that was exactly what looked set to happen after the brothers had again pushed the pace hard on the swim and bike legs.
Jonny was leading comfortably heading into the final kilometre of the 10km run but then the heat began to take its toll and he started to weave across the course. The South African Henri Schoeman, who won bronze behind the Brownlees in Rio, overtook Jonny to win the race.
Jonny stopped at the side of the road but Alistair, who had been running comfortably in third, put his arm around his brother and all but carried him along the final few hundred metres and then pushed him across the line. There was a protest against the Brownlees’ finish, but under triathlon rules assistance from other competitors is allowed and by finishing second with Mola in fifth, it was the Spaniard who took the title by only four points.
Alistair suffered similar drama in Hyde Park in 2010, and he told the BBC: “If it happened to anyone I would have helped them across the line because it’s an awful position to be in. If he’d conked out before the finish line and there wasn’t medical support it could have been really dangerous. It was a natural human reaction to my brother but for anyone I would have done the same thing. I think it’s as close to death as you can be in sport.”
The 2016 WTS season ends in a dramatic fashion. What. A. Year. #WTS2016 pic.twitter.com/nvqNrrI13D
— World Triathlon (@worldtriathlon) September 19, 2016
