The news that triathlon legend Alistair Brownlee was retiring from the sport just days after his best result of the season may have taken some by surprise – but he’s explained why the timing for him is perfect.
The double Olympic champion changed the face of the sport, not just with those gold medals at London 2012 and Rio 2016 but with the way he raced all-out in all three disciplines.
In his prime he was virtually unbeatable and though he’s not been able to train with the same intensity in the last couple of years due to injuries, he was still able to make the podium at the T100 Grand Final in Dubai at the weekend behind newly-crowned world champion Marten Van Riel and reigning 70.3 champ Rico Bogen.
‘It just feels really right’
And speaking on the T100 Triathlon World Tour’s YouTube channel Brownlee said: “I was pretty confident all year that this was going to be my last racing, but I wanted to get to the end of the year and really see how I felt, without making a rash decision.
“Many factors have gone into that decision. Ultimately it just feels really right. And I know that’s kind of a wishy-washy thing to say, but it does, and I’m really happy with it.
“It’s a combination of I have been doing it for a long time and there are so many other things in sport I want to be able to do. I want to be able to do all kinds of endurance challenges.
I want to stay fit and healthy and be part of sport hopefully into my old age.
“I’m definitely aware I’m kind of putting the miles on the clock and wearing certain things down. So I wanted to retire fit and healthy and not be forced to retire by injury and illness or whatever.”
‘Unpredictability’ tough to deal with
Speaking in more detail about the challenges he’s faced over the last few years, he added: “It has got more difficult for me. I can’t do anywhere near the training that I used to be able to do. So I also found it hard at times being on start lines knowing that I’m not prepared to the level that I’d like to be.
“I mean, I’m old! I’m 36, have done it for a long time and there’s a load of other things I want to do with my life.”
Alistair will reveal more details about what’s next over the coming weeks but gravel biking and various endurance challenges will no doubt be high up the list.
But asked whether there was a temptation to try and add a first T100 victory in 2025, he pointed out: “I think I probably could compete for wins in the T100, but there’s so many factors now that are out of my control.
“I probably can’t beat the very top guys on their days. And someone like Marten [Van Riel], he would have to have a bad day for me to win.
“And most frustratingly, the thing that I found the hardest competing now is I built a career on the ethos that I was the best prepared I possibly could be on the start line and I basically can’t do that anymore.
“I can’t do the training [at] the intensity I’ve done.
I still train hard and love it and enjoy it, but I can do a fraction basically of the training I used to be able to do.
“And that means you’re standing on the start line thinking, yeah, I’m kind of here and obviously I’m going to race as hard as I can and push and try and beat people, but I just don’t have the engine and the tools to actually win races in that way.
“And there’s the unpredictability this year. Just kind of random injuries. My body obviously is way more prone to injuries now. Illnesses too – just being ill, fatigue kind of stuff. I’ve never had illnesses like that in a whole career. And I don’t want to spend months of my life focusing, training hard, and then for something to go wrong in the five days before a race. That unpredictability is something I found really tough.”
But for all those frustrations, it’s worth pointing out that Alistair still managed to take to the start line for all seven races in the T100 Triathlon World Tour and he added: “Ultimately I’m still competing because I love it, otherwise I would have retired a long time ago.”
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