both the Brownlees have become house hold names here in the UK and are regularly in TV ads this year. I am sure all those extra demands from sponsors must take a toll. I cant blame them for cashing in and I am sure they will be back on it next year.

Here you have his WTS results this year
5
1
4
4
2
42

If only an American male could have been that bad..............

Johnny is a great athlete, but are you really trying to say that 5 WTS titles, 1 olympic silver, 2 half ironman titles and 1 xterra titles put Javier in the same league as him with 1 WTS title, 1 olympic silver and 1 olympic bronze?

However, regarding the evolution of his performance, two comments:

In my view part of his edge is being able to train with his brother and vice versa. If one of them is not available the other one looses that.

A Spanish federation insider told me circa 2.011 that Gomez shouldn't worry too much about the Brownlees because the way they trained they wouldn't last too long around. So far he has been proved right to a large extent. On the other side, Gomez has acknowledged that after his injury leading to Beijing in 2.008 he has learned to train at 99% instead of 100% reaping almost the same benefits, but staying injury free.

My 2C

Wouldn't say that he was right since Alistair took the gold from him 2012 and again in Rio (though Gomez wasn't there). Sure they've had injuries but they have still dominated triathlon.

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

He had an issue with magnesium deficiency and I think a few injury niggles early season. I dont think he was training to the max for a lot of the season.

The grand final he spent a lot if time on the front of the lead bike pack while some of the other runners we a bit less active. The conditions and the course layout probably didnt help. Think the 2nd pack had a strong cyclist who put in a lot of hard yards to catch the Brownlee group.

Maybe the Brownlee' s won't have the longevity of Gomez but 2 Olympic cycles (8 yrs) has probably ended Gomez's chances of grabbing an olympic gold, but you never know I guess.

Im not comparing JB's or Gomez's achievements im comparing the two on there absolute best days, there really isn't much between the two of them at all.

I didn't manage to answer the 2nd part of this post but without trying to sound bitchy how did it go for Gomez after Beijing watching the Brownlee's pick up two Golds a silver and a Bronze? Thats without the ITU titles!

Lets not forget Jonny is a bit of bad luck/tactical split second decisions from being a x3 World ITU Champion.

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Hello. From my point of view, JB will not win the Series anymore. I am sure he will win some races but as per the above quote, both brothers train 100% and that is not bearable for their bodies... they get injured too often and finally you end with AB winning just 2 titles and JB one. I think we've seen the best of him though is a brave competitor, pushing at the front all the time... I think the sport needs more brownlees, blummenfelts,etc

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

The difference IMO is that Gomez has a lot more absolute best days than JB.

Can't argue with that, I wonder how they stack up against each other headtohead.

What is your understanting of "dominated triathlon"? Although they are both brilliant and have achieved great results, others have had better results in the last 5-7 years. A Brownlee hasn't won the WTS for 5 years with Gomez winning 3 and Mola 2.

Not too bad since he has grabbed 4WTS titles, 2 sub titles, 2 half ironman titles, one xterra world title, and an olympic silver since then. More than anybody in the history of triathlon has ever achieved.

Had the Brownlees been 1% more conservative with their training, things migh have been quite different.

they both probably aren't eating as much steak since Cozumel

Alistair has focused on the Olympic and has done less wts races. Sure, you could make the argument that most wts wins=most accomplished triathlete, but I think Gomez and Mika would give away there titles in a heartbeat for an oly gold. Every race is his for losing.

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

I think Ali has the record for most WTS wins anyway, well it was last time I checked.

No argument that Ali has been the best ever triathlete in history in one event...two olympic golds, impressive!! But, I think it is stupid to compare Gomez and Ali as the first has won more titles, he´s been more consistent (from 2006 to 2008 nobody was able to even see his feet), raising his level when Ali came into scene, and being able to win 4WTS with both brothers in competition. Ali is just "magic", but both are great in different ways. Gomez has been at the top for 12-13 years...isnt that impressive too?

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

AB has won the Olympics twice and left Gomez to pick up the B races! In particular in 2012/13 went Gomez got Silver he carried on racing and winning. Would that of happened if he had got gold?

Simon Lessing was a legend who dominated ITU in the 90s but history will remember Simon Whitfield.

Pretty sure alistair has won more wts races anyway. But yes, you are correct that Gomez is more consistent

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

Head to heads:

Jonny Brownlee 19 : Gomez 17

Alistair Brownlee 24 : Gomez 14 (5 of those coming before Beijing 2008 when Alistair was still a teenager)

A quote from Gomez himself: "I've won pretty much everything I've wanted to, 5 ITU, Xterra, 70.3 WC, I have an Olympic Silver medal that I've very proud of but I'm training for the Gold, which is the biggest achievement an athlete in our sport can have"

AB has two. So no, the 'Spanish federation insider' hasn't been proven largely right.

JB has a somewhat disappointing year but the fact of the matter is 5th for him is around the worst he'll do. That's why he's in with a shout for a Tokyo medal (if not Gold). Mola or Murray and a few others are also in with a shout for Gold, but they could quite easily finish 10th on the day due to the dynamics of the race.


I think one of the more interesting questions to consider is would Alistair go to a Tokyo as a domestique for Jonny. Even if we suppose that he decides to switch totally and go long, he'll probably still be the best swim biker at ITU level and his engine in the front group probably would be the best bet JB has of distancing Mola, Murray, Blu etc.


If the young kid Alex Yee can physically mature a little bit and get his swim bike up to the being able to hang with the 2nd pack then the GB team will have some pretty devastating options considering he's a 13:37 5k runner aged 18.

not sure what you mean, Halvard, can you expand at all on your thought?

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"one eye doubles my eyesight, so things don't look half bad" John Hiatt

He's definitely not been proven wrong. Speaking over the top of my mind Alistair has missed his stated objective for this year (Chatanooga) due to injury. He lost the 2.013 WTS title in home soil due to injury and many, many more. Gomez won both of them. Had Alistair and Jonathan managed to stay injury free for longer, Gomez would definitely not have the resume he has.

He was not saying which one is best, just that thier careers would be hindered by injuries, which is unquestionable.

I think it is great we've had these three triathletes competing at the same time, because it has risen the level and the awareness of the sport as well as the value of what each one of them have achieved.

Messien, you can put the numbers, put also the world champs of each of them.
In 2012, Ali beated Javi, right, no discussion... In 2016 Javi was not there... do you also remember the 2015 grand final in london, that sprint with gomez and jonny?? gomez won. in front of the brittish crowd.... so, yes,..you are right about the vs, but talk about titles.
In addition, two guys vs one is not easy to deal with, isnt it? or taking domestiques for the olympics such as Benson ,Hayes. Spaniards go in their own way, no team work...so, consider it. Besides that, who says whitfield has been greater than Lessing? You say it. And Gomez is humble, he tells the trutj, he wants that gold,but that does not mean he is not one of the greatest.

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

Oh, let me clear, Gomez has been absolutely fantastic for triathlon and will go down as one of the greatest of all time.

When people talk about who's a greater athlete there is a little bit of both subjectivity and objectivity. Yes, I do think that Gomez's 5 ITU titles means that he ranks above Jonny. But equally it's very easy to simply say Gomez wasn't there in 2016 for the Olympics, but that's been the case for many World Series races for both Jonny and Alistair. You have to show up to the races - in the 2015 grand final Alistair was injured for example and there have been many World Series titles that Alistair could have won if he'd manage to actually compete in the number of required events.

But he didn't. And neither did Gomez when it came to Rio. That's the life of an athlete - sometimes it's in you favour, sometimes it isn't.

Alistair's head to head is also decisively in his favour when it comes to the races both he and Gomez have competed in. The Olympics is also the biggest event by far when it comes to Olympics level triathlon.

What we can all agree on I'm sure is that Alistair, Jonny, and Javier have ALL been fantastic rivals for each other and they've all ensured that they've had to raise their game, and it's meant that their careers have been more competitive and their achievements more significant.

It's worth noting that the Brownlees care MUCH, MUCH MORE about the Olympics that the World Series. After they'd won the World Title once it was no longer their main objective. Their careers have always been focused on the 4 year Olympic cycle.

Alistair has stated many times that he would have rather had 1 year of winning everything than 10 mediocre years.