“Great Britain’s Alistair Brownlee has become the first triathlete to successfully defend his Olympic title,” World Triathlon reported from Rio on August 18, 2016, and “Alistair shared the podium with younger brother Jonathan Brownlee, who crossed over next for silver.” “Jonathan Brownlee claimed the silver to make it a banner day for British triathlon and the Brownlee family, adding to his bronze medal in London.”
A month later came “the final race of the World Championship season,” as Team GB called it: the elite men’s race at the World Triathlon Grand Final in Cozumel, Mexico, which ran from September 11 to 18, 2016. Mario Mola went in “knowing that he’d needed to finish third if Jonny Brownlee won the race,” Team GB says. “On the final lap, Jonny Brownlee rocketed away to a 100 meter lead,” Slowtwitch reported, and “he looked to be heading to a famous victory in searing 33 degree temperatures in the coastal resort of Cozumel,” Team GB says. “But just 500 metres from the conclusion of the race he started to stagger across the road.” “Jonathan struggled with heat exhaustion in the final portion of the run,” World Triathlon says.
“Seeing his brother in trouble, Alistair Brownlee abandoned his duel with Henri Schoeman of South Africa,” Slowtwitch says. He “assisted Jonny to continue racing, wrapping his arm around him and helping him run stride for stride,” World Triathlon says, and “The win came in the final 500m, as Schoeman bypassed” the two brothers. “At the finish, Alistair pushed Jonny over the line where he fell in a heap in second position,” Slowtwitch reported. “Then Alistair walked across 3rd.”
Mola, “who came through in fifth, hung on to his advantage in the overall standings by just four points to become world champion for the first time,” Team GB reported. World Triathlon says “the ITU competition jury unanimously ruled against disqualifying Jonathan.” But for 2018 the ITU amended its rules, Triathlon Magazine Canada says: “One rule states that an athlete cannot physically assist the forward progress of another athlete on any part of the course — this would result in both athletes getting disqualified. Had this rule been in place in 2016, it would have disqualified the Brownlee brothers from the ITU Grand Final in Cozumel.” “Now, however, the rules have changed so this finish will be forever unique to our sport,” the race official Ulf Schuetze told World Triathlon.
“It was a natural human reaction to my brother but I’d have done it for anyone,” Alistair said, as Team GB reported. He also told World Triathlon: “So I swore that, literally if it happened to anyone I would help them across the line.”
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- He was about to win a world title, but his legs gave out in the heat. Slowtwitch: “Jonny Brownlee was cruising to the win at the World Triathlon Series Grand Final and the World Title in Cozumel when he started wobbling in the heat.” The42: “the Briton’s legs began to give out.” World Triathlon: “Jonathan struggled with heat exhaustion in the final portion of the run.” 571
- His name is Jonny Brownlee. Team GB: “Jonny Brownlee’s bid to add the triathlon world title to his Olympic silver.” 4
- His big brother, Alistair, beat him at two Olympics. World Triathlon: “Great Britain’s Alistair Brownlee has become the first triathlete to successfully defend his Olympic title” … “Alistair shared the podium with younger brother Jonathan Brownlee, who crossed over next for silver.” 3
- Gold for Alistair. Bronze, then silver, for Jonny. World Triathlon: “Jonathan Brownlee claimed the silver to make it a banner day for British triathlon and the Brownlee family, adding to his bronze medal in London.” 3
- A month after Rio came the World Series final, in Mexico. World Triathlon: “2016 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Cozumel Mexico · 11 Sept 2016 - 18 Sept 2016”; “The elite men’s race was the final race of the 2016 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Cozumel”; “Schoeman, who won Olympic bronze exactly one month again” [sic]. Team GB (September 18, 2016): “the final race of the World Championship season.” 14
- A win would make Jonny world champion. Team GB: Mola, “knowing that he’d needed to finish third if Jonny Brownlee won the race,” finished fifth. Slowtwitch: “If Jonny Brownlee wins and Alistair Brownlee finishes 2nd, Mola can still win the World Title if he finishes 3rd.” 45
- It was 33 degrees. Team GB: “And he looked to be heading to a famous victory in searing 33 degree temperatures in the coastal resort of Cozumel.” 4
- On the last lap, Jonny pulled clear. Slowtwitch: “On the final lap, Jonny Brownlee rocketed away to a 100 meter lead.” 5
- Then, 500 meters out, he started to stagger. Team GB: “But just 500 metres from the conclusion of the race he started to stagger across the road.” World Triathlon: “the conditions took their toll with just under half a kilometre until the finish line.” 41
- His brother could have raced on for the win. Slowtwitch: “Seeing his brother in trouble, Alistair Brownlee abandoned his duel with Henri Schoeman of South Africa”; on the third lap Alistair ran “one second back of Schoeman in 3rd.” 5
- Instead, he stopped. World Triathlon: “Alistair Brownlee (GBR), who had stopped to help will his brother over the line.” 1
- He put an arm around Jonny and ran him to the line. World Triathlon: he “assisted Jonny to continue racing, wrapping his arm around him and helping him run stride for stride.” 1
- A South African ran past them both to win. World Triathlon: “Earning the gold for the race was South Africa’s Henri Schoeman” … “The win came in the final 500m, as Schoeman bypassed Jonathan Brownlee (GBR), who struggling in the heat, and Alistair Brownlee (GBR).” 1
- At the line, he pushed Jonny across in second. Slowtwitch: “At the finish, Alistair pushed Jonny over the line where he fell in a heap in second position.” Team GB: “Brownlee was then virtually carried and thrown across across the line by brother Alistair, the Olympic champion, to take second.” 54
- He walked across in third. Slowtwitch: “Then Alistair walked across 3rd.” World Triathlon: “Jonny taking silver and Alistair winning bronze on the day.” 51
- The world title slipped away, by four points, to a Spaniard. World Triathlon: Mario Mola’s fifth place “saw him win the 2016 ITU World Championship title in a dramatic finish by just four points.” Team GB: “That meant Mola, who came through in fifth, hung on to his advantage in the overall standings by just four points to become world champion for the first time.” 14
- New rules later made that finish a disqualification. Triathlon Magazine Canada: “One rule states that an athlete cannot physically assist the forward progress of another athlete on any part of the course — this would result in both athletes getting disqualified. Had this rule been in place in 2016, it would have disqualified the Brownlee brothers from the ITU Grand Final in Cozumel.” World Triathlon (race official Ulf Schuetze): “Now, however, the rules have changed so this finish will be forever unique to our sport.” 62
- “I’d have done it for anyone,” Alistair said. Team GB: “It was a natural human reaction to my brother but I’d have done it for anyone.” 4
Sources
- Mola crowned the 2016 ITU World Champion (September 2016) World Triathlon
- Alistair Brownlee and Richard Murray relive iconic Cozumel 2016 Grand Final (May 2020) World Triathlon
- Alistair Brownlee (GBR) makes history with Rio triathlon Gold (August 18, 2016) World Triathlon
- Brownlee brothers in dramatic conclusion to World Triathlon season (September 18, 2016) Team GB
- Jonny collapses, Schoeman takes GF, Mola the world title (September 18, 2016) Slowtwitch
- ITU amends competition rules for 2018 Triathlon Magazine Canada
- WATCH: Jonny Brownlee dragged to finish by brother Alastair in dramatic World Triathlon finale (September 2016) The42
Notes
How far from the line: Team GB says 500 meters, World Triathlon “just under half a kilometre” (and Schoeman’s pass “in the final 500m”), Slowtwitch 400 meters to go and The42 700 meters (while he still led). The Short follows Team GB and World Triathlon.
“He gave up winning,” as one popular retelling puts it: nobody can say Alistair would have won, because Schoeman was running with him. The Short says only that he “could have raced on for the win,” which is what Slowtwitch describes (“abandoned his duel with Henri Schoeman”).
“Carried”: Team GB says Jonny was “virtually carried and thrown across the line”; World Triathlon says Alistair wrapped an arm around him and helped him run. The Short says he put an arm around him, ran him to the line and pushed him across (Slowtwitch).
“A win would make Jonny world champion” is true as the race finished: Mola was fifth and needed third if Jonny won (Team GB, Slowtwitch). Had Mola run faster, a Jonny win might not have been enough; the Short claims no more.
The rules: the new ITU rule took effect for the 2018 season (Triathlon Magazine Canada). Whether today’s World Triathlon rulebook still words it the same way was not checked, so the Short says only “later.” On the day, World Triathlon says, the jury “unanimously ruled against disqualifying Jonathan”; our sources don’t quote who asked for it, so no one is named.
Left out: Alistair’s blunt remarks about his brother’s pacing (public, but unkind), Jonny’s hospital check (medical detail beyond “heat exhaustion”) and Jonny’s own words, which he posted on social media. Both brothers, Henri Schoeman and Mario Mola are alive; only race facts, official reports and Alistair’s published words are used, nothing private, and Mola is not criticized.
Pictures: there is no free photo of the Cozumel race or its finish, so none of these photos shows it. The two brothers are together in André Motta’s photo of the bike leg of the Rio Olympic triathlon on August 18, 2016 (Alistair, number 5, and Jonny, number 6), and in MartinPutz’s three photos from the Grand Prix de Triathlon in Paris on July 9, 2011: with flowers (Alistair on the left) and two of them running side by side, in which we don’t tell the brothers apart. Jonny alone is in André Motta’s photo from the Rio race on August 18, 2016; MartinPutz’s photos from Nice on April 24, 2011, and of him winning the Triathlon de Dunkerque on May 23, 2010; AdamKR’s two photos from the Yorkshire Cross Country Championships, which he won, on January 9, 2011; and Brian Minkoff-London Pixels’s photo of him running in the Hyde Park triathlon in London on August 7, 2011. Alistair alone is in Jim Thurston’s photo of him with his London 2012 gold medal at the Olympic victory parade on September 10, 2012; MartinPutz’s portrait from Paris on July 9, 2011; Brian Minkoff-London Pixels’s photo of him winning the Hyde Park triathlon on August 7, 2011; Cs-wolves’s photo of him on the run at the European Championships in Glasgow on August 10, 2018; and Angel Arcones’s photo of him crossing the finish line of the World Series race in Madrid on June 6, 2010, a different race and finish line from Cozumel’s. Mario Mola is in KimGDavis’s photo before the World Series race in Montreal on August 6, 2017. San Miguel de Cozumel is seen from the air on August 27, 2007, and its waterfront on May 26, 2021.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Mendelssohn, The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave), Overture, Op. 26 (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, public domain); Mussorgsky, Night on Bald Mountain (1886 version) (Musopen, public domain); Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 'From the New World': II. Largo (Musopen, public domain).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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