Javier Gomez backed up a tremendous win a week ago at Hamburg by absolutely cracking previously perfect Alistair Brownlee with 500 meters to go, then surging away from Alistair’s younger brother Jonathan Brownlee and Jan Frodeno to win the Dextro Energy World Championship Series round 5 at London.
While many top contenders a week ago at Hamburg ran out of steam and finished out of contention in London, Gomez showed he was back to his 2007 and 2008 world beating form by closing with a race-best 29:31 run to hit the line first in 1:42:08.
After hitting the Brownlees with several surges to keep the pressure on in the final 2.5-kilometer run lap, Gomez earned a 6 seconds margin on Jonathan Brownlee and 22 seconds on fast-closing third place finisher Jan Frodeno, the 2008 Olympic champion and current WCs points leader.
But the shock of the day was watching the phenomenal perfection wrought by Alistair Brownlee unravel over the last 400 meters.
After going 4-for-4 in 2009 World Championship Series wins and then outdueling Javier Gomez at the Grand Final, then come back from a pelvic stress fracture to win at Madrid, the elder Brownlee started to stagger just when expected to sprint to another win. Not unlike Julie Moss or Barbara Lindquist when they famously ran out of calories, Alistair Brownlee wobbled into the race barrier on the homestretch as he faded from 2nd to 10th and closed with a 30:22 run and a finish time of 1:43:05 – 57 seconds back of Gomez.
“I wanted to make sure I had a chance to win so the final lap I decided to go as fast as I can,” said Gomez on the ITU live web broadcast. “At 200 meters to go I had reached my limit and looked back and was happy I could do it. I was not sure I could do it, but I thought it was now or never and went after it like Hamburg.”
After his breakthrough WCS podium, 20-year-old Jonathan Brownlee said of his brother’s ill fortune, “That’s a shock. It’s the first time he finished like that.”
Of his own race, young Brownlee said “After the first (of four) run lap, I thought it was incredible to be up there with the leaders and I did everything I could to stay up there. To finish second was a dream come true.”
Jonathan saw his Alistair taken away for a medical treatment IV and paid tribute to his brother and to Gomez. “Alistair is an incredible athlete with what he’s done last year to win every single race. And today Gomez was incredible. He kept surging harder and harder.”
Jan Frodeno, who finished second to Gomez by 16 seconds last week at Hamburg, was quite happy with his finish at London given the mild health problems he has been fighting. “To be honest I do not feel fantastic, but I came on when I needed to and I had it all there,” said Frodeno. “I was really happy to stay with Javier for most of the run and I was surprised and thought ‘Here we go with two Brownlees!’”
Frodeno was the first to drop back from the four man breakaway on the run, but hung tough and slid past Alistair Brownlee down the stretch. His third place finish guaranteed him to maintain the 2010 World Championship Series points lead with 2767, 195 ahead of Gomez and 279 ahead of early season points leader Alexander Brukhankov.
Since Alistair Brownlee missed Sydney and Seoul while recovering from his stress fracture and skipped Hamburg to be fully rested to defend his London title, there are not enough races left for the 2009 champion to retain his Dextro Energy World Championship Series crown. Points are scored on the best four finishes of six regular rounds – with just Kitzbuhel remaining -- and double points at the Grand Final in Budapest.
Another significant landmark of this race is that the elder Brownlee looked as if he might well have been the only man to win on the London course before the 2012 Olympics. The fact is that this sensational competitor has proved that he is human -- but remains the most dangerous competitor on the circuit.
Jarrod Shoemaker closed with the sixth fastest run of 30:09 and took top American honors with a 7th place finish. Matt Chrabot (51st) and Chris Foster (53rd) were the next two top USA men’s finishers.
Related image gallery
Dextro Energy ITU London WCS men's race gallery
Dextro Energy World Championship Series Round 5
London, England
July 25, 2010
S 1.5k/ B 40k/ R 10k
Men’s Elite results
1. Javier Gomez (ESP) 1:42:08
2. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 1:42:14
3. Jan Frodeno (GBR) 1:42:30
4. Alexander Brukhankov (RUS) 1:42:44
5. Mario Mola (ESP) 1:42:46
6. Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS)
7. Jarrod Shoemaker (USA) 1:42:57
8. Stuart Hayes (GBR) 1:42:59
9. Steffen Justus (GER) 1:43:04
10. Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 1:43:05
13. Tim Don (GBR) 1:43:20
14. Simon Whitfield (CAN) 1:43:24
15. Sven Riederer (SUI) 1:43:33
23. Kris Gemmell (NZL) 1:43:56
50. Courtney Atkinson (AUS) 1:46:38
51. Matt Chrabot (USA) 1:46:48
53. Chris Foster (USA) 1:47:33
