“THIS year, I have woken up every day in pain.”

Those were pretty much the first words that came out of Alistair Brownlee’s mouth after his historic Olympic triathlon win.

They tell you everything you need to know about the physical sacrifices made by him and brother Jonny to secure their one-two finish in Rio.

The sight of the duo slumped on the blue carpet at the finish line will be one of the defining images of these Games when all is said and done.

The siblings were simply too strong for their rivals and in the end Alistair – as is so often the case – just had too much on the run for his brother, Jonny settling for silver which at the very least is an upgrade on his bronze from London.

On a gruelling course along Copacabana beach, with temperatures touching 30 degrees Celsius, the brothers’ meticulous preparation was clear for all to see.

The months of slogging up and down the Yorkshire Dales made this hilly route meat and drink to them.

“You train so hard and race so hard and you don’t give yourself a chance to think about crossing that line while you are racing," said Alistair.

“Every day this year has been so hard, I’ve woken up in pain every day. God that was so hard.

“I got onto that blue carpet and I knew the gap was good so I wanted to enjoy it. In London I didn’t have that luxury. But this time I thought, it’s probably never going to happen again so I should enjoy it.

“I can’t remember which one of us said it but it was just ‘we’ve done it’.”

When we talk of the Brownlees' brilliance – often it is in physical terms of the hours logged on the road or the lengths swum in the pool.

But it was their tactical approach that really stood out on Thursday.

Alistair stopped short of calling it the perfect race – but it could not have been far off as their plan worked flawlessly.

After a strong swim left them both in the top five transitioning to the bike, the duo made their move in the first two circuits on two wheels.

With Brownlee senior barking instructions and junior taking long shifts at the front – a leading group of ten riders got clear of the rest and once they were out in front they stayed there.

The much-fancied Mario Mola was left in the dust and from then the podium spots were almost already secured.

“As soon as we were halfway through and we had a good gap, I was like ‘we’re going to get two medals here’ and then it was just a run for it,” added Alistair

“The bike was where the 1-2 finish came from in the end.”

Frenchman Vincent Luis initially kicked with the brothers on the run but he faded – South Africa’s Henri Schoeman took bronze – and the one-two was guaranteed.

Alistair then made his move to secure his spot in the history books, no man has ever won two Triathlon Olympic titles before.

And in a Games that has made headlines for poor crowd attendance, this was an uplifting spectacle reminiscent of Hyde Park four years ago.

The turnout was superb along the beach and Alistair’s lead at the end was such that he could soak up the applause with a Union Jack draped over his shoulders as he took the tape.

Spare a thought though for Jonny – whose head to head record against his older brother now stands at 24 races – 17 defeats.

A silver medal is some consolation but when Alistair was asked afterwards if he thought this could happen again – his younger brother swiftly interjected with ‘I bloody hope not!’

According to both of them, Jonny has been the stronger of the two in training this year – but on the big day it wasn’t enough.

“When he pulled away a bit of me thought: Here we go again!” Jonny confessed.

"But you have to be calm, confident and positive. I was pretty confident I was going to hold on to second and I thought maybe Alistair will tire – I was running alright.

“But he got his gap pretty quickly and then just stayed at that.”

There is a third Brownlee brother – Ed. But triathletes all over the world need not be too worried – triathlon is not his bag.

"Our Mum Cathryn and Dad Keith are here,” added Jonny.

“My little brother couldn’t be bothered, he is at home. It’s been fantastic to have our parents here and to see them with the British flag and the Yorkshire flag was just amazing.

“Ed is training to be a vet – I think he is actually milking cows right now. He is doing something far more interesting than watching us anyway!”

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