Brownlee brothers back in action in star-studded triathlon in Florida

Double Olympic champion triathlete Alistair Brownlee and double Olympic medallist Jonathan Brownlee are going against each other in a triathlon race.

The stellar line-up at the PTO Championship at Challenge Daytona contains Javier Gomez and Henri Schoeman.

In the women’s field, Olympic champion Nicola Spirig has also been listed as racing as well as Sweden’s Lisa Norden who picked up a silver medal at London 2012.

To celebrate the return of such a great triathlon line-up, we’ve dug out some a quick rundown on what makes the Brownlees such a winning combination.

Alistair Brownlee is not qualified for Tokyo 2020… yet

Alistair has been such a consistent performer and remains one of the best triathletes of all-time. He’s not in the provisional list for Team GB.

Although Mike Cavendish, team leader of GB Triathlon, said in the Guardian that door remained open.

“It will be a tough decision, I won’t lie. But I would much rather have a lot of athletes to choose from, rather than spreading around trying to fill slots.

“I’ve no doubt Alistair and anyone else I could mention will absolutely be gunning to do the best we can to make our job even harder.”

They are both from Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a proud county in the north of England. Birthplace to the Arctic Monkeys, Olympic boxing gold medallist Nicola Adams, and Game of Thrones star Sean Bean.

It’s also associated with a lot of tea drinking.

The Brownlees are no exception and have been urging people to have a brew in local cafes to help the community during coronavirus.

The Brownlees train with a special swimming pool

They are super competitive between themselves. Though this act of brotherly of brotherly love will always be remembered despite the family rivalry.

The love of competition has meant they have an amazing pool set up in their homes to make sure they can get their lengths in – even when facilities aren’t open.

Alistair Brownlee is an Ironman

One of the reasons that Alistair hasn’t qualified for the GB team automatically is his decision to take on Ironman.

For the uninitiated, an Ironman triathlon is one of the most gruelling tests of human endeavour.

A 2.4 mile swim (3.9km), 112 mile bike (180.2km), and then a full 26.2 mile marathon run (42.2km)

He was gunning for a world championship win at the famous (And brutal) course in Kona, Hawaii.

In the end he finished in 21st place. Still, an incredible achievement!

Tokyo 2020 may be the last time you see Jonathan at the Olympics

Jonathan is looking to add an Olympic gold medal to his silver and bronze from the past two Olympic Games.

This could be his final chance to do it (as he hinted to the Daily Telegraph).

So this weekend’s race will be a fascinating look at where these highly talented brothers are heading ahead of the new Olympic year.