Well there will be some more sibling rivalry between British triathlon greats Alistair and Jonny Brownlee when they contest the Olympic Triathlon event this week. Older brother Alistair is the reigning Olympic Champion in the event and he along with Jonny should be in contention for a podium finish at the 2016 event in Rio. Their main challenger in the field is Spaniard Mario Mola and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if those are the three on the podium at the end of the gruelling test.
The Triathlon is on Thursday from Rio and Alistair is 8/11 favourite at online betting site Bet365 to retain his title. However, Alistair has slipped down the world ranking because of an ankle injury that he had to fight through. The last titles for the 28 year old came in 2014 when he claimed the World Team, Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Games Team gold medals. He has been such a dominant force and the sport through that experience counts for a lot.
Just to prove a point after getting back from his injury he has triumphed in his last two races in the World Triathlon Series. In those events (Leeds and Stockholm) the Brownless finished with a 1-2, so again, they should be right in the medal hunt. But while Alistair is the reigning champion and going off as favourite for the Olympics, how much value is there in backing the younger brother Jonny to come good? He is a tempting 6/1 shot to take the victory in the Olympics, trying to improve upon the bronze medal which he took at the 2012 Olympic games in London.
Reasons to get behind Jonny would be the mental approach as he has said that he has changed his mentality to one of expecting to beat his brother. With the drop in rankings of his brother because of the injury issues, Jonny goes into the Olympic event ranked third in the world. So that is something which should instil a lot of credence in the younger brother, but of course, you can’t just expect those two to rule, there is the big threat of Mola in there.
Also, no athlete has ever won more than one medal in the Olympic Triathlon, so that will put history against the Brownlee brothers. Mola wasn’t there in the medal hunt four years ago, as fellow Spaniard Javier Gomez took silver, splitting the Brownlees. The Rio course will kick off with a big swim in the waters of Copacabana beach and then they will hit the same bike course that the Olympic Road Race went through. That was a treacherous, highly technical ride that the contestants had to come through in that one, a course that troubled the majority of the riders.
Then the event finishes with the 10k run and that is where Mola could have a big advantage over the Brownlee brothers. He is the better runner because he has more speed in the tank so where the British athletes can really build an advantage is early on. The swim could be the all important factor because that is probably where they are the strongest of the field. That is where, Alistair in particularly, can make a strong case by pulling out a lead over his competitors. Don’t expect this one to be an easy win for whoever lands the gold.
Olympics 2016 Triathlon Betting
Alistair Brownlee 8/11, Mario Mola 9/4, Jonathan Brownlee 6/1, Richard Murray 12/1, Vincent Luis 14/1, Fernando Alarza 14/1, 33/1 bar
Olympics 2016 Triathlon Top Three Betting
Alistair Brownlee 1/6, Mario Mola 8/15, Jonathan Brownlee 11/10, Vincent Luis 2/1, Richard Murray 5/2, Fernando Alarza 4/1, bar 8/1
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