Alistair Brownlee became Great Britain’s first Olympic triathlon champion on this day in 2012.

Brownlee won gold with a brilliant performance in front of a huge crowd in London’s Hyde Park, while his brother Jonny picked up a bronze medal.

Britain had never even won an Olympic medal in the sport before but Alistair went into the race as the defending world champion and hot favourite having dominated triathlon over the last four years.

Alistair kicked away from Spain’s two-time world champion Javier Gomez and moved clear of his rival, and he had time to collect a Union Flag on his way down the finishing straight before crossing the line.

Jonny had been tipped for the silver medal but had to give way to Gomez – the Yorkshireman’s hopes were not helped by a time penalty for getting on his bike too early.

The brothers became the first British siblings to win medals in an individual sport at the same Olympics since Reggie and Laurie Doherty also won gold and bronze in tennis in 1900.