Jonathan Brownlee

One of the world’s leading triathletes, Great Britain’s Jonathan Brownlee is a medal hopeful at his country’s home Olympic Games. Brother of two-time world champion Alistair Brownlee, Jonathan has struggled to leapfrog his elder sibling in the world rankings since competing at international senior level in 2009. A Youth Olympic champion, 2009 Junior European champion and 2010 under-23 world champion, Brownlee is the brightest talent to emerge in the sport in the last few years and finished second to his brother in his debut world series season. Sprint triathlon has proved the younger Brownlee’s speciality, with world golds in 2010 and 2011 underlining his dominance at the shorter distance, although an elite silver medal behind his brother in Beijing last year hints at a major challenge in London. Spain’s Javier Gomez and Russia’s Alexander Brukhankov have been consistently strong in recent seasons, but a silver medal in the 2010 Hyde Park triathlon may give Jonathan Brownlee an edge over his higher-ranked brother - who collapsed in that event.