Alistair Brownlee eyes 10,000m at Commonwealth Games
- Published
Alistair Brownlee has revealed he would love to race in the 10,000m at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The Olympic triathlon champion clocked 29 minutes, seven seconds in the 10km run at London 2012 - only 97 seconds slower than Mo Farah's gold medal-winning time over the same distance.
The display prompted speculation that he could be competitive on the track.
"I would love to [take part] but, obviously, qualification is pretty tough, so we will see," he said.
Brownlee won the London 2012 triathlon with a dominant performance in Hyde Park and he was joined on the podium by brother Jonny, who claimed bronze.
Alistair broke clear of the field on the run - the last of three legs in a triathlon race - and his time would have seen him finish second last in the 10,000m Olympic final, which was won by Farah in a time of 27:30.
Although the 24-year-old is keen to test himself in a purely running race, he doubts whether he could ever get anywhere near Farah's level.
"I wasn't far off [Farah's time], but it is still hundreds of miles away in terms of making that time up," Alistair added.
"But I would love to give it a go. Over the next few years, if anything gives me a chance to try some different things, new challenges, [I'd be keen to try them].
"It [the 10,000m] is probably something that will help my triathlon and help my ability to run that 10km at the end of the triathlon really fast."
Despite admitting to having his head turned by the appeal of the track, Alistair is adamant he will always be a triathlete first and foremost.
"I want to try do some 10km races on the road and see how that goes, but definitely, I'm a triathlete through and through and that is always going to be my priority," he said.
When asked if he would defend his Olympic title in Rio, Alistair added: "Absolutely, yeah. Triathlon is one of those sports where the Olympics is by far the biggest thing in it, so it is focused Olympics to Olympics."
Brother Jonny says he and his brother want to finish first and second in Rio.
Spain's Javier Gomez separated them in London, although he was aided by Jonny receiving a 15-second penalty for a breach of the rules during the swimming-cycling transition.
"It would be great if it [the one-two] could happen," said Jonny, who succeeded his brother in becoming world triathlon champion this year.
"But anything can go wrong - for example, penalties."
Despite the brothers already formulating plans for the 2016 Olympics, Jonny insisted their main focus was on the short-term and, in particular, Glasgow.
"Four years is a long, long time in sport," he said. "People keep talking about Rio 2016 but London has only just finished.
"The Commonwealths are next and we are both looking forward to trying to qualify for that."
- Published21 October 2012
- Published7 August 2012