Johnny Brownlee was the only returning member from Great Britain’s 2011 Championship Relay Team and he was the deciding factor in this year’s repeat championship.

The team relay consists of a 300 meter swim, 6 kilometer bike and 2 kilometer run, alternating woman/ man/ woman/man. The race started after a 30 minute rain delay. While the Sprint Championship held Saturday was lined with rows of spectators, the chilly weather discouraged crowds today. Twenty-two teams contested the race with some nations entering multiple teams.
Much to the delight of the home crowd, Saturday’s winner Lisa Norden led throughout the bike and run of the first leg. The team relay became a battle of attrition as each transition saw less teams in the lead group and more falling back out of contention.

Six teams remained at the front of the race when the first male relay members dismounted the bike. Anne Haug of Germany fragmented the race when she charged to the front of the bike and left all chasers disorganized and singularly pursuing after her. Haug dismounted with a 22 second advantage and after 2 kilometers of running she tagged anchor leg Stefan Justus with a 28 second advantage.

After just 300 meters of swimming Justus’s 28 second advantage was cut to just 12 seconds as Brownlee Jr and Vincent Luis of France were quickly making up time. Justus decided to press on full speed over the 6 kilometer cycle leg as the two chasers pursued as one. While leading Justus crashed crossing over a painted white line and could do nothing as Brownlee Jr and Luis pedaled by. Luis rode Brownlee Jr’s wheel as Johnny rode only fast enough to keep 3rd place Alexander Brukhankov from cutting into the 10 second deficit. Luis and Brownlee, who memorably ran step-for-step against each other in last year’s Team Championship, started the run in a pounding rain. Each man came out blazing, sprinting the downhill slope out of transition. After 1k of running, Brownlee Jr had a 3 second advantage. Luis, yesterday’s Bronze medalist was running faster than everyone except Brownlee Jr, yesterday’s Gold medalist. Johnny Brownlee would finish 10 seconds ahead of Vincent Luis. This is Great Britain’s second title in this event. Switzerland won this event in 2009 and 2010. The ITU is continuing to showcase this event in hopes of gaining entry to the 2016 Olympics.

ITU Team Sprint World Championships
Stockholm, Sweden / August 26, 2012

1. Great Britain (Holland/Clarke/Stanford/Brownlee) 1:26:48
2. France (Harrison/Moulai/Peon/Luis) 1:26:58
3. Russia (Abysova/Polyansky/Razarenova/Brukhankov) 1:27:31

USA: DNF