Commonwealth Games: Alistair Brownlee and Jodie Stimpson win triathlon gold for England
Last Updated: 24/07/14 8:13pm
England clinched a golden double in the triathlon events at the Commonwealth Games as Alistair Brownlee won the men’s event and Jodie Stimpson triumphed in the women’s race.
Alistair finished ahead of brother Jonny Brownlee in Glasgow, running away from his sibling after the two had ended the cycling leg with a commanding advantage.
The Olympic champion eased across the line 11 seconds clear of Jonny, with Richard Murray of South Africa taking the bronze medal.
The Brownlees had stated their intention to make it a hard race from the start and they certainly delivered. The pair pushed the pace early in the 1.5km swim and exited the water in second and third behind South Africa's Henri Schoeman.
Again, there were more Yorkshire flags than any other nation - that's fantastic. The support we get is just brilliant.
Alistair Brownlee
Those three, along with 20-year-old Scot Marc Austin, formed a lead group of four but Schoeman over-shot a corner and dropped back into the chasing group, leaving the three British athletes to work well together.
Austin finally found the pace too hot to handle at the end of the fourth lap, dropping off at a rapid rate and soon being swallowed by chase group.
The gap to the Brownlees was hovering at around a minute and it stayed that way until they set out on the 10km run. Having worked together until that point, the brothers then began to race against each other.
Alistair wasted no time making his move, pulling out a five-second lead by the end of the first lap which grew gradually until the end of the race.
Main goal
"It's absolutely fantastic. This was the goal I wanted to achieve for the season,” Alistair said.
“I've done it now. That's all I wanted to do really. I've done everything I wanted to do, so I don't know what I'm going to do now – I might as well retire!
"My family and most of Yorkshire (were out there) I think. Again, there were more Yorkshire flags than any other nation - that's fantastic. The support we get is just brilliant.”
Stimpson had earlier won the opening gold of the Games after she broke clear in the final few metres to win the women’s event.
Stimpson, who missed out on the London Olympics in 2012, finished ahead of Canada's Kirsten Sweetland and team-mate Vicky Holland.
A leading group of six began to splinter towards the end of the penultimate lap of the 10-kilometres run as Stimpson took the lead.
As the contenders fell away, only Holland and Sweetland could stay with her. Holland dropped off shortly before the finish, leaving Stimpson and Sweetland to fight it out.
Almost within sight of the line, Stimpson made her break and the 25-year-old from the West Midlands pulled away to take victory.
A battle between England and Wales had been highly anticipated, but injuries to world champion Non Stanford and Helen Jenkins prior to the Games ended Welsh medal hopes.