Alistair Brownlee beaten in sprint finish in Yokohama triathlon

Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee narrowly missed out on victory in Yokohama after he was overhauled in a dramatic sprint finish to the fifth World Triathlon Series event of the season.

Brownlee was in contention right until the end as the lead changed hands several times but he was eventually edged out by two seconds by world champion Javier Gomez.

The result was a reverse of last month’s race in Cape Town when Brownlee defeated the Spaniard in a sprint finish on his return from an ankle injury.

"It was a tough run and I was hanging on for most of it," said Brownlee. "I had nothing; it was the worst I have felt in a race."

Gomez, who finished the race in 1 hour 47 seconds, extended his lead at the top of the standings before the next event in London at the end of the month.

Another Spaniard, Mario Mola, finished in third while Brits Mark Buckingham and Adam Bowden finished fourth and seventh respectively.

In the women's race, America's Gwen Jorgensen continued her remarkable run of form by claiming her ninth consecutive victory.

Jorgensen finished over a minute ahead of Australian pair Ashleigh Gentle and Emma Moffatt with Aileen Reed finishing sixth for Ireland, one place ahead of Britain's Non Stanford.

Former world champion Stanford was making her comeback after spending almost two years out with injury.