Did Olympic gold medalist Alistair Brownlee play his way into SPOTY contention this year? After becoming the first man to ever win two gold medals in the Olympic Triathlon, he produced a moment of sporting greatness on the weekend when he came to the aid of his ailing brother Jonny at the end of a race in Mexico.
Younger brother Jonny was leading the race, something he needed to do to be in with a shot of claiming the Triathlon World Series title, but heat exhaustion caught up with him just before the finish and he started wobbling off to the side of the course, barely able to stand. Alistair, who was just behind him, saw his little brother in distress, went over to him and threw his arm around his shoulder.
Then Alistair pretty much dragged his stricken brother to the finish line, throwing him over in second place before crossing himself in third. Unfortunately the incident meant that Jonny was pipped to the Triathlon World Series title and he went off to hospital for treatment.
When asked about the incident, Alistair said: “it was a natural human reaction”, before adding: “I wish the flippin’ idiot had placed it right.”
On the back of his moment of selflessness to take care of his brother, bookmakers were quick to trim Alistair Brownlee into 6/1 today to win the Sports Personality of the Year 2016 award, having been out as long as 125/1 prior.
Sports Personality of the Year Award Odds
Andy Murray 15/8, Mo Farah 9/4, Laura Trott 6/1, Alistair Brownlee 6/1, Nick Skelton 12/1, Gareth Bale 16/1, Max Whitlock 20/1, Anthony Joshua 28/1, Jason Kenney 25/1, Lewis Hamilton 50/1, 66/1 bar
