Abu Dhabi: The Brownlee Brothers are now a household name in Great Britain. The world completely changed for Alistair and Jonny Brownlee ever since they made it a family affair at the 2012 London Games — winning gold and bronze medals in triathlon, respectively.
They were the star attraction at the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon and the duo lived up to their reputation leading from start to finish in the Men’s Elite Short Course Race and chose to cross the finish line together, flying the Yorkshire flag.
Gulf News caught up with the brothers as they were cooling their heels in the waters of the corniche after winning the gruelling race. Excerpts:
GULF NEWS: How was it racing here in Abu Dhabi?
BROWNLEE BROTHERS: It was good racing here. This is a second time for me (Alistair) in Abu Dhabi and I love coming here. It was a fantastic start and the sun was rising in this beautiful water. We swam as fast as we could and hit straight out on the highway and got to that F1 circuit which was really brilliant.
Today, I (Jonny) wanted to stay close to my brother because we do a lot of bike testing and he is better on the bikes. I wanted to follow him and keep up. We didn’t feel the heat that much until we got on to the bike. On the bike it was still fine and suddenly it got to the run. Especially over here, there was not a lot of wind. So it was warm.
When did you guys decide that you would finish together? Alistair, do you think you could have beaten Jonny?
Well, we both had stomach bugs this week so we didn’t want to push very hard. We then decided that it was not good to push ourselves. However, we were competing all the way through and working together which was nice. But I would like to think that I could have beaten Jonny for sure. Laughs.
How much have things changed here from the time you last visited here?
It is incredible how fast things move here in Abu Dhabi. A whole building comes up in no time, the Shaikh’s Palace over there has gone up since the time I was here last year. Everything in Abu Dhabi is big and impressive. The course is very different and this year, we had two laps of the F1 circuit and that was a lot better. That F1 circuit is the real highlight.
What sort of an impact did the London Olympics success bring?
Definitely, it was absolute impact you can say. Everything has changed. We have got a lot more busier basically. But at the end of the day, we still go to bed and get up at six in the morning, so life is still the same. Lot more people recognize us on the streets you can say. One million people came to watch at the Hyde Park during the Games. When we came home, people came and said we are now seeing kids cycling down the streets. It is amazing what a triumph can do anywhere.
What do you think the UAE can do to get our very own triathlon champion?
Doing such a top class event is certainly one of the things. There are top class triathlons here and people are coming to watch and with that awareness is created. Specially, in Abu Dhabi there is a lot of opportunity; you have the sea and lots of pools, lot of gardens and it is easy to be active here. Getting more kids involved is the best way and you had an event for kids ahead of this. Of course, interest is created once someone clicks and that change we saw after we won.
