Alistair Brownlee narrowly lost to Javier Gomez after an enthralling battle at the ITU World Triathlon Yokohama in Japan. Crafting a result on a day he ‘had nothing’, Brownlee was pleased with silver. Mark Buckingham was fourth and Adam Bowden seventh. Non Stanford returned from injury to also finish seventh.
Olympic Champion Brownlee exited the 1500m swim and got onto the bike in a small lead group. But the lead didn’t last long and Brownlee admitted to feeeling under par.
He said: “I had a little mess up with my helmet, that meant there was a couple of seconds gap that I had to close, not normally a problem but today I just never recovered. I had to sit at the back for the first two or three laps. I had nothing, it’s the worst I’ve ever felt in a race in my life.”
On the 10km run Brownlee was locked in battle with Gomez and Mario Mola (ESP). Mola was dropped after 8km, leaving Gomez and Brownlee to fight to the line. In the finishing straight Brownlee led, but Gomez overtook with just metres to go.
Gomez was delighted with his first win of the season, and Brownlee satisfied with silver.
Brownlee added: “Obviously after [the win in] Cape Town I wanted to win here, but a first and a second is brilliant for the world title. [There are] another four Series races to go, I should become fitter as well.”
Buckingham Adam Bowden finished in the top ten, the former achieving his first ever top ten result in forth place and the latter demonstrating remarkable consistency. Finishing seventh, Bowden achieved his fifth successive top ten result on the Yokohama course.
Former ITU world champion, Non Stanford marked her return form injury with a seventh place finish in the women’s race, which was once again dominated by Gwen Jorgensen (USA).
Stanford has not raced since she won the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in London in September 2013.
She said: “I’m happy but not satisfied. It was great to be back racing and my goal was always to get to the finish line in one piece, but after 20 months away, I can't complain. If anything, today has given me more motivation to get it right come August 1st."
British Triathlon Performance Director, Brendan Purcell reflected four top ten finishes: “Alistair looked awful at the start of the bike so getting a result was another demonstration of his character. He’s done a lot of very hard work between the Cape Town race and now. It really was good to see Mark Buckingham and Adam Bowden finish in the top ten."
He added: “Non was maybe a little conservative today, but it was a very solid result after so much time injured.”
London hosts the next round of the ITU World Triathlon Series on Sunday 31 May. Back-to-back sprint races in Hyde Park are free for spectators to watch, and set to feature the first race this year between Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee.
Results, ITU World Triathlon Yokohama, 1500m run, 40km bike, 10km run:
Men
1. Javier Gomez Noya, ESP, 1:47:00
2. Alistair Brownlee, GBR, 1:47:02
3. Mario Mola ESP, 1:47:20
4. Mark Buckingham, GBR, 1:47:48
7. Adam Bowden, GBR, 1:48:04
15. Gordon Benson, GBR, 1:48:47
DNF Thomas Bishop, GBR (stomach bug)
Women
1. Gwen Jorgensen, USA, 1:57:20
2. Ashleigh Gentle, AUS, 1:58:33
3. Emma Moffatt, AUS, 1:59:03
7. Non Stanford, GBR, 1:59:22
43. Heather Sellars, GBR, 2:04:48
