Digital magazines from the International Triathlon Union (ITU) and the World Triathlon Series
Issue link: http://worldtriathlon.uberflip.com/i/1392212
MEN'S REVIEW – AUGUST 18, 2016 RIO 2016 The beach of Copacabana may have been a far cry from London's Hyde Park, but Alistair Brownlee was nevertheless favourite to become the first triathlete to defend an Olympic title. As the swimmers stretched out to the first marker, three distinct groups formed, before Slovakia's Richard Varga took his place at the front of the swim to push the pace further and string out the rest of the field in his wake. Both Brownlee brothers and Henri Schoeman were already well placed, too, setting the tone for the rest of the day as they hit the bike section hard and cranked up the pace along with the likes of Marten van Riel and Vincent Luis. With the chase group out of sight as the 40km ride drew to a close, the medals were destined to come from the 10- deep leading pack, both Brownlees again going straight onto the pace out of T2 and off on the 10km run. Luis went with them and a gap opened behind to Schoeman, but at the halfway mark the hammer went down again, Luis was dropped by the Brits and suddenly the South African closed in on the bronze. Alistair kicked clear of his brother for a famous second gold, making history in the process. OLYMPIC HISTORY REVIEW 146 - World Triathlon Media Guide Tokyo 2020 REPLAY on Olympic Channel