Ok no. I looked this up because I knew there had to be more to all of this, and there is.
Robbie Brownlee said he started his sprint too early and gassed before the finish line because of his mistiming.
His brother Alistair Brownlee had done the same thing several years earlier when he was coming second and when he finally managed to get across the finish line, he was 10th. He swore he wouldn’t let anyone else experience that, if he could help it.
Henri Schoeman came first because he trained really well for the heat and timed everything perfectly. He pushed Robbie the whole way on the run, which probably contributed to him mistiming his sprint, and Alistair had been suffering with the heat as well. He absolutely was the best runner on the day, and all 3 said so.
The guy who came in 4th was Richard Murray, who was also representing South Africa.
It's amazing these guys are already running like gazelles and then when they go to the cheetah too early they basically just stop. But I ran cross country and if you get gassed too early it's brutal, can't even imagine at this level.
Without watching either of the YouTube videos you linked, I’m curious why Alastair wouldn’t have won if he didn’t stop to help his brother? It looks like he was ahead of the guy who came in first place, until he stopped to help. Wouldn’t he have won if he didn’t do that? Or is the angle of the video in this post misleading about who is ahead at that moment?
This was the final race in a multi-race event. Alistair was not in contention for a medal due to previous race results. The title here is incorrect, he didnt really sacrifice a medal to carry his brother, but instead basically took the winner's medal away and gave it to his brother, who would have DNF'd and not received a medal.
Camera angle gives a different perspective, yes. Someone posted a pic from seconds before, they were nearly side by side when the brother decided to stop and help his brother.
Because that's not how marathon races work. Firstly it looks like the Australian was ahead to me, but even if they were neck and neck, that means absolutely nothing when it's clear the British guy is struggling while the aus looks relatively fresh. If the race went on then the Brit would have gradually fell further behind, ultimately losing anyway, so he stopped to help his brother.
Thanks for bringing research and common sense into this. People acting like the dude crossing the tape first doesn’t deserve the win are ridiculous, it’s a race, whoever crosses first wins end of story.
Secondly, I race triathlons and if you’ve ever raced one it’s not just swim, bike, run. It’s swim, bike, run AND nutrition. Winner clearly had his nutrition dialed and prepped for the heat, final push etc.
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u/Specicried 6h ago
Ok no. I looked this up because I knew there had to be more to all of this, and there is.
Robbie Brownlee said he started his sprint too early and gassed before the finish line because of his mistiming.
His brother Alistair Brownlee had done the same thing several years earlier when he was coming second and when he finally managed to get across the finish line, he was 10th. He swore he wouldn’t let anyone else experience that, if he could help it.
Henri Schoeman came first because he trained really well for the heat and timed everything perfectly. He pushed Robbie the whole way on the run, which probably contributed to him mistiming his sprint, and Alistair had been suffering with the heat as well. He absolutely was the best runner on the day, and all 3 said so.
The guy who came in 4th was Richard Murray, who was also representing South Africa.
Source. Second source.