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England's Brownlee brothers suffer shock Commonwealth Games defeat

Thursday 5 April 2018 13:05, UK

Jonny and Alistair Brownlee during the Men's Triathlon at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
Image: Jonny and Alistair Brownlee finished outside the medal positions

England's Brownlee brothers suffered a shock defeat as they failed to make the podium in the triathlon at the Commonwealth Games.

Defending champion Alistair fell out of contention at the start of the run, eventually coming 10th, while Jonny finished seventh in one of the brothers' worst days.

But Scotland's Marc Austin took the bronze medal behind gold medal winner Henri Schoeman of South Africa and Australia's Jacob Birtwhistle, who claimed silver.

(L-R) Silver medalist Jacob Birtwhistle of Australia, gold medalist Henri Schoeman of South Africa and bronze medalist Marc Austin of Scotland
Image: (L-R) Silver medalist Jacob Birtwhistle of Australia, gold medalist Henri Schoeman of South Africa and bronze medalist Marc Austin of Scotland

After the race, Alistair Brownlee said: "About three quarters of it went alright. I knew I was going to struggle on the run and I was downplaying my chances. I've only run a handful of times in the last month or so."

Jonny Brownlee, reflecting on a disappointing race for him, said: "It was pretty terrible today. I didn't feel great. I've had ups and downs and I was injured in January so I missed a lot of training but I thought I was going to be better than that."

Jessica Learmonth during the Women's Triathlon at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games April 5, 2018 on the Gold Coast, Australia.
Image: Jessica Learmonth (R) in action during the Women's Triathlon at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games

England's Jessica Learmonth claimed silver in the women's triathlon clocking a time of 57 minutes and 38 seconds to finish second and 43 seconds behind Bermuda's Flora Duffy.

Learmonth's England team-mates Vicky Holland and Sophie Coldwell finished fourth and sixth respectively and Wales' Non Stanford was a disappointing eighth.

Also See:

L-R) Silver medalist Jessica Learmonth of England, gold medalist Flora Duffy of Bermuda and bronze medalist Joanna Brown of Canada
Image: L-R) Silver medalist Jessica Learmonth of England, gold medalist Flora Duffy of Bermuda and bronze medalist Joanna Brown of Canada

After claiming England's first medal of the race Learmonth said: "I hadn't thought it was the first, that's pretty cool.

"It's been chucking it down for the last five weeks and now it's boiling. I was feeling a bit rosy."

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