The prospect of siblings sharing the top places on the podium at a home Olympics seems almost too good to be true, but the Brownlee brothers’ domination of the European Triathlon Championships this weekend made such a possibility seem convincingly realistic.
Alistair Brownlee, 23, maintained his big brother’s bragging rights with a remarkable victory, beating Jonathan, 21, into second place by seven seconds in Pontevedra, northwest Spain, on Saturday. But Alistair conceded that he would not have been able to complete a dramatic recovery without some efficient teamwork and a little brotherly love.
On the 40-kilometre cycling leg of the race, Alistair’s progress was interrupted by a puncture. He fell behind the leading pack as a result and relied on his team-mates and Jonathan, in