Javier Gomez denies Jonny Brownlee world triathlon title
Last updated on .From the section Triathlon
Spain's Javier Gomez won the 2014 Triathlon World Series title in Edmonton as Britain's Jonny Brownlee came up short in his quest for a second world crown.
Gomez finished third in the final race to seal his fourth world title as Jonny's brother Alistair Brownlee claimed his second win of the season.
Jonny Brownlee finished fourth to slip to third in the overall standings.
He was overtaken by Spain's Mario Mola, who outsprinted Gomez to finish second.
| 2014 Triathlon World Series - final standings | |
|---|---|
| Athlete | Points |
| Javier Gomez (Spa) | 4,860 |
| Mario Mola (Spa) | 4,601 |
| Jonny Brownlee (GB) | 4,501 |
| Alistair Brownlee (GB) | 4,006 |
| Joao Pereira (Por) | 3,817 |
Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee made the decisive move with two laps to go in the cycle as he broke away in a three-man group to open up a gap of around 60 seconds on the main contenders.
But Gomez recovered to reel in Norway's Kristian Blummenfelt and Brazil's Reinaldo Colucci, before he and Mola surged ahead of Jonny Brownlee in the latter stages of the run.
"It's just amazing," said Gomez, whose fourth world title brings him level with Britain's Simon Lessing as the most successful triathlete at world level.
"I'm really happy after a very tough week. I gave my best and I'm happy with my third place - it did the job."
Alistair Brownlee, who has missed much of the season through injury, said he was delighted to win the finale.
"That was fantastic," he said. "I was trying to gap Jonny from Gomez but I realised that wasn't going to work.
"I got really lucky on the breakaway. It was a good job I had that gap because I was feeling awful on the run."
