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Alistair Brownlee thought for a moment of waiting for his brother to reach him so they could cross the line together. But then he thought better of it.
“I thought about it but we would get told off for it,” Alistair said after he paraded his way down the final straight to victory, an England and Yorkshire flag in each hand.
Jonny came running in 11 seconds later to take silver, not just an England quinella but a family one.
He might have been feeling sentimental at the finish but that was the first time Alistair had shown any sign of brotherly bonhomie – Jonny had asked him for water at one point during the cycling leg and Alistair had said no.
The Brownlees of Yorkshire so emphatically won the men’s triathlon that even allowing for Alistair’s slowdown to celebrate before crossing the line he still stepped over in 1hr 48.50 minutes, a minute and a half ahead of South African Richard Murray in the bronze position.
It completed a dominant day for the English at Strathclyde Park after Jodie Stimpson and Vicky Holland earlier took gold and bronze.
Alistair now has a Commonwealth title to go with his multiple world, Olympic and European titles.
Australia’s trio of triathletes all finished in the top 10 with Ryan Bailie best placed in fifth (1:50.43) 1.53 behind the lead. Aaron Royle was ninth in 1:51.03 and Dan Wilson ninth in 1:51.36.
“The Brownlees were in a different race to the rest of us boys so in the other race we tried to get through the race the best we can,” Wilson said.
The Brownlees opened up a small break on the field with 300m to go of the swim and from there didn’t look back. They had Murray sticking with them but always only just clinging on: they had his measure.
Bailey and Royle tried to bridge the gap once they got on the bikes but the Brownlees, working in tandem sharing the lead and drafting - legally – could not be halted.
“We tried to get across that small gap the Brownlees had and we didn’t have the legs there to close it and then it was, 'What do we do? Do we wait'?” Bailie said.
“We ended up sitting up and waiting for that second pack to come and the lead just grew and it was a matter of saving it and trying to run for that last spot on the podium.
“The race got away [at the] 1200 in the swim when that little gap opened up and it was enough for them. We didn’t have the legs to shut it at the early stage of the bike and pretty much there goes the gold and silver up the road.”
As Royle said: “You give someone like the Brownlees an inch and they will punish you for it. They completely showed today they have taken the sport of draft legal racing to a new level and I don’t think many people would argue that after seeing their performance today.
“When it was just myself and Ryan riding against the two Brownlees, they were just too strong and we couldn’t get there.”
