His brother may have just announced his retirement, but Jonny Brownlee has revealed he has no plans to hang up his own trisuit just yet.
The careers of Alistair and Jonny Brownlee have been inextricably linked – they were both on the podium at the London Olympics on home soil in 2012 and then again in Rio in 2016, with Alistair taking gold both times and Jonny a bronze and a silver.
Jonny would go on to complete his full set of Olympic medals when striking gold with a brilliant performance in the Mixed Team Relay in Tokyo.
But he just missed out on selection for Paris this summer and chatting to fellow triathlon legend Vincent Luis in a fascinating supertri video which was released this week and is embedded below, he reveals he’s still got more he wants to do in the sport.
T100 for Jonny?
He had been scheduled to race over the middle distance at Challenge Mallorca recently and though a bike crash before supertri Toulouse scuppered that plan, his training for it had given him plenty of encouragement that he can still be competitive.
Marten Van Riel has moved up in distance to stunning effect this year, putting his own Paris disappointment behind him in incredible style by becoming the first men’s T100 World Champion last weekend.
And it now sounds like Brownlee, who has raced three times at middle distance but not since 2022, is putting his name into the hat for a potential T100 contract.
He says of his future plans: “Maybe T100 if I get a contract.
“If I’m honest. I thought the power [on the time trial bike] was way off until I actually prepared for Mallorca.
“To have the power for the top guys, I’m still going to be a way off, but that kind of next level, I think I’m getting there in that now. So I think I could be competitive.”
‘I don’t want to walk away’
And talking about what he’s looking forward to next, he added: “For me, I know it’s a bit of a cop out but I just want to enjoy it now. I feel like I’ve earned the right to enjoy it.
“I put everything into London and then Rio and then even Tokyo I did everything I possibly could and I was actually quite proud of my fifth there. My heat preparation, everything was perfect. And there’s only so many times you can do that. And I’ve almost used that up.
“Part of me was thinking of going into some challenges and some fun stuff. Whether that is anything from Marathon des Sables [billed as the world’s toughest footrace and across the desert] to gravel racing [he came sixth behind INEOS Grenadiers rider Connor Swift at this year’s National Championships].
“But I don’t want to walk away.”
It’s worth reflecting on the absolute quality of that top five in Tokyo – Kristian Blummenfelt took gold and has won pretty much every middle and long-distance race that matters since then. Alex Yee claimed silver and turned that into a gold in Paris, while Hayden Wilde also moved a step up the podium from third in Tokyo and has won countless other massive events since. And T100 sensation Van Riel was fourth, a second ahead of Brownlee.
‘Great for the sport, but…’
And one classic Jonny / Alistair episode is also discussed in the supertri video – that day in Cozumel in 2016 when the ‘brothers in arms’ moment saw the Brownlees and triathlon go viral in mainstream media.
Jonny was on course to win the World Championships for a second time, but close to the finish in sweltering temperatures near-disaster struck. In a worrying scene his legs began to give way and he looked on the verge of collapsing, only for Alistair to catch him and almost carry him to the line.
Looking back now he says: “It took me a while to come back kind of physically and mentally.”
Asked if he’s upset that those outside the triathlon bubble know him “as the guy that his brother carried for the finish line” he replies: “Oh definitely. Firstly I’ve only won the World Championships once, so that would have been another time.
“But the second point is I realised the responsibility of growing the sport and it was absolutely massive for that – just a shame it sort of had to go that way!
“All over the world that video is the only thing [lots of people] know about triathlon. So I remember thinking it was great for the sport, but again, not what I want to be remembered for.”
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