Alistair Brownlee wins men's triathlon

Britain’s Alistair Brownlee celebrates with the Union flag while crossing the finish line to win the men’s triathlon event at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Brownlee won the Olympic men’s triathlon with a dominant run Tuesday as his younger brother, Jonny, finished third.

LONDON - Britain’s Alistair Brownlee won gold with the fastest Olympic triathlon yet Tuesday as his brother Jonny recovered from a time penalty to take bronze — and then dramatically collapsed minutes later.

The elder Brownlee completed the 1.5km swim, 43km bike-ride and 10km run at London’s scenic Hyde Park in 1hr 45min 25sec, the quickest since triathlon’s Olympic debut in 2000, and 11 seconds ahead of Spain’s Javier Gomez.

But his jubilation at walking across the line, draped in a Union Flag to thunderous applause, turned to worry when Jonny, crossing 31 seconds behind, collapsed and started vomiting after his extreme exertions.

After an hour’s delay for medical treatment, the three medallists emerged for the victory ceremony but the younger brother was too weak to stand as he gave media interviews.

It underlines the intensity of triathlon — and reprises similar scenes in 2010 when Alistair Brownlee, who was leading a race on the same course, was taken ill 400 metres from the finish and staggered across the line in ninth.

“After the finish I collapsed. I crossed the line and I felt awful, but that’s part of racing. But I got into the tent afterwards and I got worse and worse and I overheated,” Jonny Brownlee said.

“Then I collapsed and I was sick and I got taken to the medical tent. But that’s part of triathlon, it’s a hard sport. It was Alistair’s turn to collapse here two years ago, and now it’s my turn.”

Alistair Brownlee, a two-time world champion who went into the race as hot favourite, was left fuming at the “ridiculous” 15-second penalty given to his brother for getting on his bike too early.

Jonny Brownlee chose to serve the penalty near the end of the race, meaning he had to dash to the line to protect his bronze medal position.

“It feels a bit underwhelming in a way because Johnny has collapsed and he’s not feeling too good,” Alistair said.

Gold medallist Britain’s Alistair Brownlee (right) and his brother bronze medallist Britain’s Jonathan Brownlee bite their medals as they celebrate on the podium of the men’s triathlon event at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Brownlee shattered pre-race warnings of plots to stop him as he stormed to victory in the Olympic triathlon, with his younger brother Jonny finishing third.

“The race was unbelievable. I felt in control from the start. I do not think you can hear an atmosphere like that (the crowds in Hyde Park) anywhere else. My ears are still ringing with the noise.”

The brothers now claim Britain’s first Olympic triathlon medals, making up for the women’s race when home favourite Helen Jenkins was fifth. Gomez finally takes silver after finishing just off the podium in Beijing.

With huge crowds on the banks of the Serpentine, Slovakia’s Richard Varga got them off to a fast start in the swim as he stretched out the field, followed by Gomez and the Brownlees.

Varga, completing the 1.5km lap in 16min 55sec, was first onto the bikes with Gomez, the Brownlees and Italy’s Alessandro Fabian forming a breakaway group which quickly opened up a 20-second gap on the chasing pack.

Behind the leaders, the bike race lasted just seconds for double-medallist Simon Whitfield, the inaugural Olympic champion in 2000, as he hit the deck in an early collision with Costa Rica’s Leonardo Chacon and withdrew.

After two passes of Buckingham Palace on the historic, seven-lap bike circuit, the front-runners had been caught and the Brownlees’ team-mate Stuart Hayes led a fast lead group of about 30 riders.

The Brownlees were among the first runners through the transition from bikes to the foot race and they set off at a furious pace, followed by Gomez, on the first of four laps around the Serpentine.

Their 17-second gap after lap one extended to 27 seconds by the start of lap three, and Alistair turned on the pace to lead Gomez by five seconds heading into the final circuit.

His brother, emerged from his penalty still ahead of France’s Laurent Vidal heading into the last dash around the Serpentine.

But there was never any doubt about the winner and Alistair Brownlee milked the applause from a packed grandstand as he slowly crossed the finish line, sparking celebrations among the giant crowd estimated at 200,000.