Alistair Brownlee coasted to Olympic gold in the men’s triathlon this afternoon, with his younger brother Jonny taking the bronze.

The Bingley Harriers athlete – a former pupil at Bradford Grammar School – had time to collect a Union Flag from fans and walk over the finish line.

Jonny – who had to serve a 15-second time penalty after getting on his bike too early at the transition point – finished 20 seconds behind Spain’s two-time world champion Javier Gomez.

Alistair became Great Britain's first Olympic champion in triathlon with a brilliant performance in front of a huge crowd in Hyde Park.

Britain had never even won a medal in the sport before but Alistair went into the race as the defending world champion and hot favourite having dominated triathlon over the last four years.

Richard Varga led out the swim in the Serpentine with the Brownlees, who have been training alongside the Slovakian, in close attendance.


They came out of the water in fourth and sixth but it was two-time world champion Gomez who shot off on the bike and a group of five, including both of the brothers, quickly formed.


The third member of the British team, Stuart Hayes, had a good swim, coming out of the water in eighth, but he was not able to make the break and ended up in the second group.


There was heartbreak for Canada's flag-bearer Simon Whitfield, the Olympic champion in Sydney and the silver medallist in Beijing, as he crashed very early on the first lap and was forced to pull out.


By the end of the first lap the front group had a lead of 20 seconds but that gradually came down and on the third lap they were caught.


That allowed Hayes to move to the front and take up his job as the Brownlees' domestique, but Jonny's hopes of a medal were hit when it was confirmed he would need to serve a 15-second penalty.


Alistair tried to jump away on the sixth lap but Jonny did not go with him and he was quickly reeled back in.


The pair were second and third into transition and immediately headed out at the front of the run, but Gomez went with them.


The Spaniard, the world champion in 2008 and 2010, missed out on a medal in Beijing in a race he went into as the big favourite and was determined to make amends.


He has seen the Brownlees pull away from him over the past couple of years after winning in Hyde Park in 2010 but the flat course levelled the playing field a bit and he was looking very strong.


By the end of the first lap, the trio already had a 17-second advantage over the rest, but at the start of the third lap it was Jonny who could no longer handle the pace and he dropped back.


And shortly afterwards the gap began to open between Alistair and Gomez, the Spaniard no longer able to live with the Otley athlete's incredible speed.


Jonny took his penalty on the third lap and came out still in third place, with French duo David Hauss and Laurent Vidal still some way behind.


Alistair gradually extended his gap and walking across the finish line holding a Union Flag, with Jonny finishing well clear in third but some way behind Gomez.

Triathlon: Men's Final (Top 15 finishers): 1 Alistair Brownlee (Gbr) 1hr 46mins 25secs, 2 Javier Gomez (Spa) 1:46:36, 3 Jonathan Brownlee (Gbr) 1:46:56, 4 David Hauss (Fra) 1:47:14, 5 Laurent Vidal (Fra) 1:47:21, 6 Jan Frodeno (Ger) 1:47:26, 7 Alexander Bryukhankov (Rus) 1:47:35, 8 Sven Riederer (Swi) 1:47:46, 9 Joao Silva (Por) 1:47:51, 10 Alessandro Fabian (Ita) 1:48:03, 11 Vincent Luis (Fra) 1:48:18, 12 Bevan Docherty (Nzl) 1:48:35, 13 Ivan Vasiliev (Rus) 1:48:43, 14 Hunter Kemper (USA) 1:48:46, 15 Kris Gemmell (Nzl) 1:48:52.