Britain's Brownlee brothers serve up triathlon treat

Alistair,left, and Jonny show off their medals in Hyde Park

I took to Hyde Park yesterday for one of the Olympics' most exciting sports - the men's triathlon. It turned out to be a fantastic day for Team GB as not only did Alistair Brownlee take the gold in style, his younger brother Jonny overcame a 15 second penalty to claim a bronze medal for his efforts. The crowds had turned out in huge numbers, reportedly over 300,000, to surround the Serpentine where the first swimming leg of the event took place, as some of the cycling leg and much of the running. While the massive crowds meant it was difficult to see much of the action that well, an electric atmosphere, influenced by the fact Great Britain fans knew they were in with a great chance of at least one medal, made it a more than worthwhile visit. In fact, despite having vast stretches of unticketed areas alongside the triathlon course, it was still the most over-subscribed event with approximately 500,000 people applying for the 5,000 paid seats which were available in a grandstand north of the Serpentine.

5,000 people had seats in the grandstand but plenty more turned up anyway

Triahlon, is in fact a relatively new addition to the Olympic programme, having been included for the first time at Sydney 2000. The sport itself was only properly invented in the 1970s in the USA, although there were some similar three sport events held in France during the early part of the 20th century. Triathlons can vary in distances and rules but Olympic triathlons consist of a 1.5km swim followed by a 43km bike ride before a 10km run. Alistair completed the event in 1 hour 46 minutes 25 seconds, including a running time of 29 minutes 7 seconds, only 97 seconds slower than Mo Farah ran when he claimed gold in the 10,000m event on Saturday night. Brownlee's incredible running time has even led to calls for him to try out his luck on the track, as he would certainly be able to perform competitively without swimming or cycling beforehand. The elder Brownlee brother has in fact gone on record to say he would consider taking to the track for the 2014 Commonwealth games, and that would certainly be some story.

Alistair crosses the finish line holding a Union flag which was thrown from the crowd

The Brownlees are true role models amongst the athletes at London 2012. Alistair,24, only recently came back from a serious achilles injury which ruled him out for five months earlier this year, although he proved his fitness by taking first place in the World Cup event in Kitzbuehel, Austria back in June. Meanwhile Jonathan, the 22-year-old, managed to achieve a 2.1 in his History degree from Leeds University, and in the last year wrote his 10,000 word dissertation on Richard III, who hails from Yorkshire, the brothers' home county. The Brownlees enjoy Yorkshire so much, in fact, that they chose to stay there until the weekend immediately before their race. The duo spent the first week of the Olympic Games training and enjoying their mother's home-cooking in their home village on the outskirts of Leeds. However, now the hard work is over Jonny has made it clear they plan to make the most of life in the Olympic village.

The men line up ahead of the swimming leg of the triathlon

Jonny, is targeting overhauling his brother in time for Rio 2016, where at 26 he will be in his prime. The 15 second penalty which was inflicted upon him was the first of his triathlon career and was given due to his mounting of the bicycle slightly too early in the transition period between swimming and cycling. The younger Brownlee chose to take the penalty just before the final lap of the running section of the event, despite his coaches advising him to take it earlier, but he appreciated the recovery time it allowed him. Javier Gomez, the Spanish former world champion finished 20 seconds ahead of Jonny and while the Brit feels he probably wouldn't have been able to catch the Spaniard anyway, it is a shame that we will never know if there could have been a British sibling top two at London 2012. Nevertheless, two brothers on the same podium is an achievement to be proud of. With both athletes still the right side of 25, there is plenty of potential for them to achieve much more in their careers. In an Olympic tournament where Great Britain is performing better than ever seen in recent decades, the Brownlee brothers success in Hyde Park genuinely stands out as one to remember.

James will return to Hyde Park tomorrow to watch Keri-Anne Payne attempt to claim gold in the 10km marathon swim event so make sure to return for more Olympic articles. And in the mean time follow James on Twitter @TSFE2012