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Alistair Brownlee beats brother to gold

England's Alistair Brownlee (L) and his brother Jonathan Brownlee compete in the bicycle portion of the men's triathlon race at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, July 24, 2014. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

GLASGOW (Reuters) - Alistair Brownlee continued England's golden start to the Commonwealth Games by winning the triathlon with a dominant display on Thursday. Olympic champion Brownlee, 26, was involved in a duel with younger brother Jonathan for much of the race before pulling away in the last five kilometres of the final segment of the competition, the 10km run.

He crossed the finish line in one hour 48 minutes 50 seconds at the Strathclyde Country Park, 11 seconds ahead of his sibling. South Africa's Richard Murray finished strongly to take the bronze.

"That's all you can want from a race," Alistair told the BBC. "It was tough right from the start to the finish. I really enjoyed it - Jonny was brilliant too.

"This is the goal I wanted to achieve for the season and I've done it now. Now I've done everything I've wanted to do in my career - I don't know what to do now. Maybe I should retire," he joked.

The younger Brownlee, who won Olympic bronze at London 2012, was unable to cope with his brother's superior running ability late in the race.

"Alistair was better than me today. We said it would be an honest race and it was," said Jonathan.

"We were even over the swimming and cycling but his running is stronger than mine. I'm pleased with second - I gave it everything I've got." Earlier, England's Jodie Stimpson claimed the first gold medal at the Games with victory in the women's triathlon.

With compatriot Vicky Holland also finishing third, England picked up a total of four medals from the first two events.


(Reporting by Sam Holden; Editing by Rex Gowar)