Tuesday 7 August 2012

Mrs Brownlee's Boys!

brownlee-brothers2_2301775b Olympic Men's Triathlon

London 2012 Olympics: Brownlee brothers get down to family affair in triathlon as they prepare for capital Games, on Tuesday, in the triathlon, it is the remarkable Brownlee brothers who will assume centre stage. On a course that takes in Hyde Park, Constitution Hill, Wellington Arch and Buckingham Palace, further history beckons on so many different levels.

Britain have never won a medal in the Olympic triathlon. Alistair and Jonny Brownlee have a genuine chance of winning gold and silver. What really sets them apart as potential sibling gold medallists, however, is that they will be competing in an individual sport where there can be only one winner. So, despite growing up together, training together, living together and dominating world triathlon together, Olympic organisers have already made it clear that the Brownlees would be disqualified if they did attempt to choreograph their dream of finishing together.

“It’s a shame, I think it is absolutely in the Olympic ideals to cross the line together but, if it’s not allowed, it’s not allowed,” says Alistair. “We both have to race as hard as we can to see who is the best athlete.” Coping with being best friends as well as biggest rivals is nothing new for brothers who are separated by only two years. “They have always been competitive, in everything they did – be it monopoly, chess, who would get up earliest ... anything,” says their dad, Keith.

“But they have been supportive of each other. They both recognise that neither would be where they are without the other. I try and persuade them to think about it as a family business.”