Brothers in arms and competition: triathletes Alistair and Jonny Brownlee are chasing Rio gold
The siblings share a love of a gruelling sport that began when they were around nine and today that rivalry is still burning as bright as they seek Olympic glory
Pushed to pick from luck, hard work or talent as the force driving his success in triathlon, 2012 Olympic gold medallist Alistair Brownlee struggles.
"It's difficult to put it down to one thing," he says. "A lot of it is genetics - which is luck anyway, isn't it? - then there's the hard work, and a load of things that were quite fateful: where we lived, the people we met.
"Honestly, we could probably talk about 50 things that turned out to be really important along the way. We could even write a book about just that."
But he's missed the obvious: Jonathan "Jonny" Brownlee, his adoring younger brother snapping at his heels since their childhood, now one of his greatest competitors.
Honestly, we could probably talk about 50 things that turned out to be really important along the way. We could even write a book
Their rivalry has fuelled world titles, Olympic and Commonwealth medals and forged a single, formidable name in triathlon: the Brownlee brothers.
Theirs was a fairy-tale finish in the men's triathlon at the 2012 London Olympics - Alistair storming first down the finisher's chute draped in the Union flag followed 31 seconds later by Johnny, who battled a mental blow of a 15-second penalty to hold on to the bronze.