There is plenty of reason to celebrate in the Brownlee household this weekend. Two hours after older brother Alistair won the Elite race at the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Budapest Grand Final, younger brother Jonathan Brownlee took top honours in the Under 23 category. The win comes just three weeks after Jonathan won his first world title at the first-ever ITU Sprint Triathlon World Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland.
“To have both myself and Alistair win today is absolutely amazing. It’s a bit hard to believe really,” Brownlee said. “I’m really happy for Alistair. It’s been such a tough season for him, but it’s great to see him end it like this.”
After swimming at the front of the group, Brownlee rode comfortably on the rain-soaked roads in Budapest, staying near the front for the entire ride. He was the first to exit the second transition and quickly put on a surge to pull away from the rest of the field.
“I got a five-second lead pretty quickly and once I looked back and didn’t see anyone with me, I pushed even harder and was able to make a big gap,” Brownlee said. “It definitely wasn’t an easy race for me though. I was really hurting by the time I got to the final lap and I didn’t get to enjoy the finish until the last few metres.”
Brownlee broke the tape for his second ITU World Title of the year in 1:44:25, finishing 27 seconds ahead of Ryan Sissons of New Zealand. Sissons outdueled Germany’s Franz Loeschke and Aussie Jamie Huggett in a thrilling sprint to the line.
“This was the perfect way to end a great season for me,” Sissons said. “Everything went how I wanted it to go today. I couldn’t run with Jonathan, but to get a silver medal at a World Championship is great for me.”
In the women’s U23 race, 30 of the world’s top young athletes took to the 1,500-meter swim in Daube River’s Lágymányosi Bay. Emma Jackson charged to the front at the start of the swim, exiting the water in just under 19 minutes.
A group of 22 women came together after the first of seven laps on the bike, building a gap of 40 seconds by the time they finished lap two. Jackson rode comfortably in the pack, alongside fellow pre-race favourites Kirsten Sweetland (CAN) and Emmie Charayron (FRA).
Charayron was the first to make it through T2, but both Sweetland and Jackson were right on her heels. By the end of the first of four run laps, Jackson was at the front with a 10-second advantage over Sweetland, as the pair continued to pull away from the rest of the field.
Jackson flew through the final kilometres, easily breaking away from Sweetland to stop the clock in 1:58:07.
“I’ve been focusing on this race all year long and was really hoping for a podium, so to come out here and win is a dream come true,” Jackson said. “I always like to go out of transition hard to see what I can do and today I felt great for the whole run.”
An ecstatic Sweetland crossed the line 52 seconds later to finish, posting the best finish of her season.
“I’m so proud of my finish today. It was a perfect way to end the season,” Sweetland said. “This is the first time I’ve been healthy for the World Championships since 2006, so to come out and finish second today is amazing for me.”
Charayron, last season’s Junior World Champion, rounded out the podium in 1:59:19.