LONDON: Spain’s Javier Gomez won a sprint finish with Britain’s Jonny Brownlee to claim his third World Triathlon Grand Final crown in London’s Hyde Park yesterday.
Brownlee finished second in the race and in the world series but his brother Alistair’s hopes of a third world title were ended by an ankle injury.
The 25-year-old led the standings going into the race but was severely compromised on the 10 kilometre run, which is usually his strongest leg.
Alistair completed the race but he was knocked out of the overall top three, with Spain’s Mario Mola taking the third spot on the podium.
“It feels amazing to be world champion, I can’t really believe it,” Gomez said.
“It probably wasn’t my day for running, I felt quite tired, so I was just working hard on the sprint, on the last kick. It’s amazing to be champion, I’m so happy.”
The Brownlees and Gomez all emerged from the swim near the front of the pack.
A lead group of 13 formed on the bike, with the brothers shouting at the other riders to make sure the pace stayed high.
Alistair broke away on the bike in the previous race in Stockholm to take the pressure off the run, and the feeling was his ankle injury would force him to try to do the same.
His first real attempt came on the fifth lap, but Gomez responded immediately and he was pulled back. He tried again as the lead group crossed the line to start the final lap, and this time he did manage to get a gap, but he did not make it stick.
Alistair was visibly grimacing as soon as he began to run and it quickly became clear he would not be able to compete for the world title. AFP
