Brothers scoop gold and silver in Olympic triathlon event

Two exhausted British siblings won hearts around the world when they were pictured embracing after a historic double triathlon triumph in Rio.

Alistair Brownlee, 28, crossed the finish line to win gold ahead of his brother Jonathan, 26, who clinched silver.

In doing so, the pair from Yorkshire in the north of England made history as the first British siblings to finish first and second at any Olympic Games in the triathlon event.

Alistair is also the first triathlete to win successive Olympic golds, while his sibling did one better than the bronze he won at the London 2012 games.

Alistair told the official Olympic website: “We wanted to get gold and silver four years ago, but this time we pulled it off.

“When Jonny crossed the line, I said to him, ‘We’ve done it’. To see your little brother come over the line 10 seconds after you is phenomenal. It’s so satisfying.”

While plenty of other siblings headed to Brazil together this year, none achieved quite the level of historic double victory recorded by the Brownlees.

The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, have together won the Olympic doubles tournament three times. However, they crashed out this time in the first round.

Also in tennis, Andy and Jamie Murray suffered disappointment when they were beaten in the first round of the men’s doubles — although Andy landed his second successive Olympic singles gold.

However, Paul and Gary O’Donovan from Ireland won their country’s first ever Olympic rowing medal in the lightweight double sculls. They also won plenty of fans on social media with a charmingly frank post-race interview.

And Australia’s Cate and Bronte Campbell helped lead their country to the 4x100m freestyle relay gold, breaking the world record in the process.

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