The Paris Olympics will be the first Games since 2004 at which neither of the Brownlee brothers will be on the start line of the triathlon, but Alistair believes Team GB are in rude health without the famous brothers.
Two-time Olympic champion Alistair, 36, retired from racing at Olympic distance after missing out on the Tokyo Games following struggles with an ankle injury, while younger brother Jonny, 34, missed out on selection for Paris last month in favour of Sam Dickinson.
Jonny is the most decorated triathlete in Olympic history with a gold, silver and bronze medal.
But his recent results have been disappointing and, although the final call was made by a selection panel, the writing was perhaps on the wall after Dickinson beat Brownlee at a continental cup race in Kielce in June.
“It’s the end of an era,” Alistair told the PA news agency.
“But one thing that’s definitely true in sport is that the world moves on, doesn’t it? I think personally it was very disappointing for him, and for me wanting the best for him. I would have loved to have seen him make his fourth Olympics.
“In the races going into it he didn’t perform as well as he would have liked, so when the selection came it wasn’t an enormous surprise, but it’s still a shame.”
Jonny might be missing, but two of the athletes who joined him in winning mixed relay gold in Tokyo – Alex Yee and Georgia Taylor-Brown – are in the Paris squad along with world champion Beth Potter , Kate Waugh and Dickinson.
“I think it’s a great squad,” Alistair said. “British triathlon seems to be in rude health, doesn’t it? We’ve got an amazing women’s team, all three of them could medal, I think definitely one of them will and I think Beth could win.
“In the men’s race, I think Alex is probably my favourite to win, and then in the mixed team relay they’ve got a good chance of defending the gold medal so they could be walking away with three medals.”
Brownlee puts that strength in depth down to the growing triathlon scene in the UK – something close to his heart.
He and his brother run the Brownlee Foundation, which aims to inspire children to lead healthy and active lives, and Alistair is also an ambassador for the Play Their Way campaign.
“There seems to be lots of good talent coming through,” he said. “You never quite know where it’s going to come from next. It’s amazing and very impressive that triathlon has done so well over such a long period of time.
“Ultimately, the important thing is the base of your pyramid. The more people doing triathlon the better, the more young people that inspires, the more young people who know what it is, the better.
“That’s the role the Olympics plays – it inspires people to do sports they wouldn’t otherwise do. That’s the role too of the Brownlee Foundation, we work hard to give young people the opportunity to do triathlon, we’ve had over 70,000 people take the opportunity so far.
“And that’s why I think the Play Their Way campaign is so important in giving coaches the skills, to make training sessions fun, engaging, diverse and comfortable for young people so they keep coming back.
“I feel sport has given me so much, I’ve been incredibly fortunate and I’d like to have a part in being able to give back.”
:: To learn more about Play Their Way, access resources and sign up to join the biggest grassroots movement to transform the way we coach our children and young people visit www.playtheirway.org .
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