Expert
South African Henri Schoeman has claimed gold in the men’s triathlon, with Australia also getting their first medal as Jacob Birtwhistle took home the silver.
Richard Murray and a host of other contenders will aim to put an end to the Brownlee brothers iron grip rule over the men’s triathlon at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Join The Roar for live updates and coverage of the race from 1pm (AEST).
The Brownlee brothers shot to international sporting fame after Alistair helped Jonathan over the finish line in the 2016 World Series, but they have been famous for a lot more than just the one incident on the triathlon circuit.
The pair have dominated every event they have entered, and it showed in the 2014 Glasgow Games, when Alistair took gold on the back of a dominating run ahead of his brother, who had to settle for silver.
While Alistair has never been at the peak of his powers across the course of the season, he has been the man when it comes to single races at big events. He is the reigning Commonwealth and Olympic Games champion, but hasn’t placed in the world series since 2011, despite winning plenty of events.
Jonathan was world champion in 2012 and has won a pair of silver medals since, his consistency seemingly better than that of his brother.
South African Richard Murray will be the key challenger to the brothers though. After placing fourth at the Rio Olympics, he had three placings in nine events last year and is seen as race favourite for the Commonwealth Games after starting 2018 well.
His teammate Henri Schoeman has shown a brilliant start to the new year though, taking out the first world series event in Abu Dhabi. All the other Commonwealth participants were well down the order, so Schoeman could almost enter as favourite.
Jacob Birtwhistle will lead the Aussie charge at success. A former under-23 world champion, the now 23-year-old Tasmanian showed strong form in 2017, consistently finishing at the top of the order.
Of course, without the Spanish duo of Javier Gómez and Mario Mola, along with Frenchman Vincent Luis, it throws the race open somewhat and there are plenty of others who are well down the order of favourites who might cause an upset.
Prediction
With the Brownlee brothers aiming to work in tandem throughout the race and then fight it out between themselves on the run leg, one of them should pick up the win. Murray and Schoeman will put up strong fights, but given his superior run, it’s hard to get past Alistair.
Alistair Brownlee to make it two Commonwealth Games golds in a row.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the 2018 men’s Commonwealth Games triathlon from 1pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment below.