Triathlete Sacrifices Chance to Win By Helping Collapsing Brother Finish World Triathlon

When British triathlete Alistair Brownlee rounded a corner to find his brother Jonny struggling to complete the final leg of Sunday’s World Triathlon Series race in Cozumel, Mexico, he immediately stopped to help. Sacrificing his chance to win, Alistair pulled his brother’s arm over his shoulder before hauling them both across the finish line, where Jonny collapsed.

Jonny had been leading near the end of the 6.2-mile running portion of the race when he began to wobble and slowed to a walk, allowing South Africa’s Henri Schoeman to pass him. However, with the aid of Alistair, Jonny was still able to finish in second place.

“Obviously, it was a quite good race,” Alistair told NBC Sports. “It was going almost perfectly and then I saw my brother wobbling in front of me, the very obvious signs of overheating and I knew I had to help him to the finish line. Obviously, for his position but also if anyone was in that position I would have helped them across the finish line to get medical help as quickly as possible.”

Jonny was admitted to the hospital following the race, but has since joked about the moment on Twitter. “Normally when you have had too much to drink,” he wrote. “This time it was the opposite.”