Brownlee back with a bang (From The Argus)

Alistair Brownlee marks return from injury with victory as he and brother Jonny are confirmed in GB team for Olympics

5:00pm Sunday 10th June 2012 in London Olympics 2012 - Latest News By Sports Desk

World champion Alistair Brownlee marked his first race back from injury with victory at the Blenheim Triathlon.

The 24-year-old Bingley Harrier, who is one of Britain’s best hopes for Olympic gold this summer, had not raced since winning the world title in Beijing last year after tearing his Achilles in February.

But he has been back in full training for a few weeks and showed he is in good shape as he and brother Jonny jogged to the finish line together on the day they were both confirmed as part of a six-strong British team for the Olympics.

Alistair will compete in his first World Triathlon Series race of the season in Kitzbuhel in two weeks’ time and he was relieved to come through Saturday’s race unscathed.

He said of his lay-off: “Obviously it’s not ideal. In an ideal world I would have had no problems and trained through all winter and be as fit as a fiddle.

“But it’s happened and there’s nothing I can do about it, so I’ve just got to train as hard as I can.

“It’s good to be back racing. When you’ve had an injury you’re never quite sure how it’s going to respond.

“You can train on it as much as you like but racing is that little bit different, so it’s nice to come and do a race and it be all right – especially one that’s very testing for a dodgy Achilles.”

The brothers live and train together in Horsforth near Leeds and Jonny was pleased to have Alistair back racing alongside him.

The 22-year-old said: “It’s Alistair’s first race for a long time so it’s nice to see him back.”

Jonny has taken on the mantle in Alistair’s absence, winning World Series races in San Diego and Madrid, and the pair are now firmly established as the best in the world.

There has been much speculation about whether they will attempt to finish together at the Olympics – as they did yesterday, with Alistair just in front.

Jonny said: “We don’t do it that much. We’ve done it once before at the national championships and we race in the same French team, so when we’re in France we do it a little bit.”

The Brownlee brothers are joined in the British team to compete in this summer’s London Games by Helen Jenkins, Vicky Holland, Lucy Hall and Stuart Hayes.