november-2011

NOVEMBER– DECEMBER
The best and second best triathletes in the world can’t help but stand out from
the crowd – they’re brothers. Neil Squires meets sibling rivals the Brownlees
Alistair Brownlee, who was crowned the
world’s triathlon champion ahead of his
brother, Jonathan, in Beijing this September,
thinks back to the first time he felt the sport’s iron
grip on him. He was ten years old and trying out
a mini-version of the event his uncle enjoyed.
He can still recall the thrill of competition and the
buzz of swimming, cycling and running one after
the other, but his abiding memory is of the part in
between. “When you’re ten, trying to put your
shoes on fast is interesting itself,” he points out.
Now, 13 years on, what inspires one of Britain’s
hottest prospects for Olympic gold next summer
is the perverse satisfaction he derives from pushing
his body to its limits. Completing a 1.5km swim,
a 40km cycle ride and then a 10km run is tough
enough in a week, never mind the 110 minutes it
takes Brownlee.
“There is pain,” he admits. “When you’re having
a bad day everything is painful in an endurance sport.
If you’re having a really, really good day you can
sometimes come out of it and hear the crowd or
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