Yes, just imagine if in the Olympic 10,000 meter run an athlete who was leading overcooked it, lost the plot, came to a complete stop beside an official who supported them preventing them from keeling over and then their brother caught up grabbed the dysfunctional brother and bodily hauled them to the finish line and pushed them across ahead of them self. Would that raise a ruckus or be considered inappropriate?

Guys, this topic was done to death at the time; suggest you search for the massive thread from a year ago rather than go over the same ground again.

A year has passed, so it's worth reflecting & commenting if the rules have or should be changed as a result so things are clear.

ecce-homo wrote:

Not only that, but also this:

2.2.1.a.)(viii) Compete without receiving assistance other than from event personnel and officials.

As mentioned before the problem is the wording is not clear, and yes rules are applied differently depending who you are. Perhaps that is the reason wording is not clear.

There are plenty of examples around.

From the ITU rulebook:
2.2 a)

The assistance provided by event personnel or Technical Officials is allowed but is limited to providing drinks, nutrition, mechanical and medical assistance, upon the approval of the Technical Delegate or Race Referee. Athletes competing in the same race may assist each other with incidental items such as, but not restricted to,nutrition and drinks after an aid station and pumps, tubular tires, inner tubes and puncture repair kits;
2.2 b) Athletes may not provide any item of equipment to an athlete competing in the same race which results in the donor athlete being unable to continue with their own race. This includes but is not restricted to complete bicycle, frame, wheels and helmet. The penalty for this will be disqualification of both athletes.

Also, In section 6 (running conduct) the only rule against working together is if the athletes are on different laps in the race, so based on the rules, there are no rules against what went down.

You can argue that it was against the spirit of the sport, but there are no rules making it illegal... As for the point about the 10,000m on the track... not sure about 10,000m, but in the 5000m ladies semis in Rio there was this http://people.com/...hes-race-after-fall/

I did mention this in my initial post so funny its now being discussed after the Brownlee Vs Gomez debate, im more interested in how people think its affected Jonny physically and mentally this year, is there a scar there?

Except when it really mattered in Beijing he wasn't.[/quote

Let me tell you something. Javier, from 2006 to 2008 was the best man in ITU, no discussion about it....He was so so so superior that nobody counted that he was not going to get Gold in Beijing. But, unfortunately, doing the Brownlees´ thing for 3 years led to a smashed achiles and he raced the olympics in very poor conditions (I dont know if you knew about it...) Despite of that, he finished 4th, when any other would have not finished the race.
After that, changed coach and approach to the sport. As the WTS came as world champs he changed the way of training and stopped pushing and went into a more careful body work and effort. Ever since, though Ali Brownlee has been the best in one single event oly distance and bet Javier in 2012 in London (there was battle though), Javier has won 4 WTS. He missed last olympics and people around him said he was super fit and was going to be a big challenge for Ali in Rio. Unfortunately, he fell from his bike backing home. I point this because some people say that AB would have won 3 or 4 WTS if not injured. So, I say, Javier would have gotten 1 gold in Beijing and maybe another one in Rio, but he was injured. So, injuries for everyone, excuses for everyone, not just for Ali or Jonny.

And I´ll say it again: I enjoy seeing Javier compiting every year, for every race, because he loves the sport and wants to enjoy a long career... This guy, 34, has been 2nd this year in the WTS with the grand final 6 days after he claimed the 70.3 world champ, with a long trip in between and the time change....

So, hat off for him, 13 years at the top and still challenging with Kona in his mind.

Another issue that people did not pay attention to:
BROWNLEES have led brittish triathletes to go into 70.3 or Ironman, because they had the power to pick the 3rd guy in the olympics. It´s shameful. Clarke was a classy guy, Oli Freeman too. Both abandoned because they knew there were going to be two spots for the brothers and the other for their chosen domestique. Mc Namee, Wiltshere, etc other victims of that "you do what we want you to do" ... ALL IS ABOUT GOLD?? congrats to the brothers and the brit federation....

---

Spaniard. Sorry for my english for the sensitive ones :P

Let me tell you something. Javier, from 2006 to 2008 was the best man in ITU, no discussion about it....He was so so so superior that nobody counted that he was not going to get Gold in Beijing. But, unfortunately, doing the Brownlees´ thing for 3 years led to a smashed achiles and he raced the olympics in very poor conditions (I dont know if you knew about it...) Despite of that, he finished 4th, when any other would have not finished the race.

One thing I would like your view on, were you surprised that Gomez continued with ITU this year? I guess with missing Rio he had some unfinished business with ITU but then again I don't think he had anything left to prove in that arena and I think a lot of us would love to see what he can do at Kona.

Not sure what you mean here "doing the Brownlee's thing for 3 years". Jonny wasn't racing ITU in this period and Alistair was only just breaking through. His first big result was 2nd to Kris Gemmell in Rhodes 2007 then 3rd in Madrid 2008 which IIRC was where he qualified for the Olympics team. Yes I did know Gomez had problems going in to Beijing (although I couldn't remember the details) which was unfortunate for him as I agree he was on paper the big favourite for the gold. It was a great race at Beijing too, I remember watching it very early in the morning here in the UK.

It's unfortunate for the likes of Will Clarke, David McNamee etc that they were racing in the same era as the Brownlees who are generational athletes, and actually I agree with you that I don't think domestiques should have been picked in London and Rio for the GB team as the Brownlees really don't need them and on the days they did very little (nothing in the case of Benson in Rio) to help the Bs. But I can see why the powers that be decided on this strategy as government funding for UK Olympic sport is almost entirely down to meeting medal targets at the Olympics. Don't meet your targets and your funding can be cut completely. The 3 medals at Rio secured full funding for the triathlon programme for the next 4 years. You can argue (and people have post Rio) that too much emphasis has been put on elite performance but until the policy is changed then the federations have to play the game

We're lucky to have been able to watch such great athletes that allow us to have these discussions!

One thing I would like your view on, were you surprised that Gomez continued with ITU this year? I guess with missing Rio he had some unfinished business with ITU but then again I don't think he had anything left to prove in that arena and I think a lot of us would love to see what he can do at Kona.